Dr. Theresa Cachuela Rice

Born Theresa Directo Cachuela on 8/27/32 to Igmedio and Maxima Corpus Cachuela in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, she passed away peacefully in her sleep 1/2/23. Dr. Theresa Rice packed a lot of personality into her diminutive frame and avidly enjoyed sports, travelling, and adventures. She grew up on the rice plantations of the Philippines, and relayed stories of dancing in the chaff thrown from the processing of the rice stalks. Theresa was the youngest of 5 sisters and was sent by their father to chaperone her older sisters when they went on dates. She could be bribed with candy not to report everything that happened on those dates. A visit to a palm reader was memorable, as it was proclaimed she would travel to distant lands and help many people. In fulfillment of that prophecy, Theresa chose not to follow the customs of homemaking or teaching, but to become a doctor, graduating salutatorian of Cuyapo high school and earning her medical degree from University of Santo Tomas, Manila.

Dr. Cachuela immigrated in 1956 and at a time when environments were challenging to a female, foreign-born physician, and continued her surgical training in Chattanooga TN, Atlanta GA, Lexington KY, Youngstown OH, and Winnipeg MB. It was not uncommon for her to be found roller skating with the nurses during late shifts in quiet hallways of the hospital or cooking a quick snack for the staff using laboratory equipment. She praised the renowned physician Dr. Asa Yancey of Atlanta as her strongest mentor. Dr. Rice was widely known to need to stand on a stepstool to examine patients, and when she was a surgical resident, a sterilized milk crate helped her reach the table. But when she progressed to be in charge of her own surgeries, the table was lowered to her height and colleagues had to bend to her level. Throughout, she was valued for her petite hands that performed delicate operations, with small incisions and quick recovery to the patients; proof that being smaller has its advantages.

Sponsored by the town of Whitehall WI, to be their surgeon, Dr. Rice was welcomed warmly and had many anecdotes of the Filipina adjusting to Wisconsin winters. She found surrogate families in the Richters, Walderas, and Rombalskis, and always tried to pass on the love and support to the next generation. Theresa was attending to the care of Syliva Rice, teacher and wife of former Whitehall mayor Tracy Rice, when Sylvia suggested she meet and play tennis with her son, Gregory. They married in 1974. Son William Tracy was born shortly afterward, and the Rice trio lived in Eau Claire WI before moving in 1982 to Kingwood TX, a Houston suburb.

Dr. Rice held private practice for many years, then returned to the hospital setting as a locum tenens doctor, traveling to rural hospitals in the Houston region to work shifts as their emergency room physician. Local police officers came to recognize her Volvo station wagon as it zoomed into town, and often forgave her speeding as she waved and went on her way to the hospital.

Her husband Greg preceded her in death in 1990. In 2007, Theresa married John M. Hunnicutt Ph.D., formerly of Wisconsin and Washington, who passed away in 2012. Theresa remained active for many years, earning a black belt in martial arts, skydiving on her 65th birthday, competing in senior tennis tournaments, skiing, travelling, singing and dancing, until Alzheimer’s dementia affected her later years.

Theresa is survived by son William Tracy Rice, daughter-in-law Tabitha, and grandchildren Mackenzie, Matthew, and Max; cousins Ann Marek, Becky Rice, John Sundstrom, Carole Everson, Ellen Everson, Ron Everson; and nieces and nephews and their families including Margie Stoy, Kristi Osborne, Mabel Solis, Joel Solis, Geoune Papasin; Miriam, Marissa and Ed Villareal; Anna Martino, Jennifer Hoh, and TJ Martin.

Memorial services are at St. Vincent de Paul's, Houston, on January 17, 2023; visitation at 9:00am, mass at 10:30, and reception afterward with the ability to join via livestream at www.tinyurl.com/cachuela. Internment will occur later, at Rosewood Cemetery in Humble, TX. We celebrate her rich legacy of care, service, and helping others.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.earthmanbellaire.com for the Rice family.