Mary Therese "Terry" Costa Weathers

Mary Therese “Terry” Tschumy Costa Weathers of Dallas died peacefully on December 9, 2024. She was born in Houston on September 9, 1938, to Herman Aloysius Tschumy and Rosemary Dell Powers Tschumy. She spent her childhood in West University Place and attended St. Vincent de Paul Grammar School, St. Agnes Academy for Girls, The University of Houston, and Houston Baptist College in Houston.

Terry moved to New York in 1959. In 1974, she settled in Dallas permanently, though she frequently visited Houston, Galveston, and New York. She is best known as the founder of Dallas’s Terry Costa store, now the largest dress store in Texas.

Terry is survived by her two children, Kevin Costa of New York City (Maureen Bannon); Adrienne Brown (Derek) of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California; and three Stepsons, Paul Weathers (Tonya) of Dallas; John Weathers (Ashley) of Coppell; Robert Weathers (Nydia) of Laredo; and six step-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Paul Weathers, and her sister, Sheila Tschumy.

As a teenager, Terry’s interest in fashion bloomed when she served on the Foley’s Department store “teen board” and worked at a summer job at the then recently-opened Neiman Marcus in downtown Houston. "I had the incredible luck to be trained in customer service by Stanley Marcus,” she later recalled. “I never forgot his lessons."

In high school, Terry met the future dress designer Victor Costa. Friends at first, he eventually won her heart. In his senior year of college, he matriculated at the esteemed L’Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. After graduation, they eloped in Paris.

After a few months in Paris, they moved to New York, and Terry began a new career as a mother, raising her two children first in Brooklyn and then on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Terry was a loving mother to her children, fostering their intellectual and creative talents, their love of reading, and sending them to excellent schools. The family also maintained the connection to Texas, spending many summers in Houston and Galveston.

In 1974, the Victor Costa company was founded in Dallas. As her children matured, Terry’s involvement grew in all aspects of the company. She also managed the company’s factory outlet, which eventually evolved into a retail store.

In 1984, the Costas separated, divorcing in 1986. As part of the divorce settlement, Terry retained the retail store, which she named Terry Costa. The new store added many other designers, including Oleg Cassini, Victoria Royal, Carmen Marc Volvo, Tadashi and others.

The advertising slogan for the Terry Costa store was "Dreams Within Reach." To deliver on that promise, Terry created a new model for a discount retail fashion store. Previously, most were dark, shabby affairs with concrete floors and poor or non-existent service- certainly not an atmosphere to realize one’s dreams. The Terry Costa store possessed a comfortable high-end boutique environment and provided customer care equal to that of the City's finest department stores. The concept was wildly successful. She served as the store's chief buyer, traveling to New York five times a year to buy clothes that looked expensive but were not.

Throughout her career as owner of the store, Terry generously hosted many fashion shows which supported numerous charities including Les Femmes Du Monde, The Northwood Foundation, The YWCA of Dallas, and The Susan G. Komen Foundation. In 2000, The Dallas Design Initiative conferred on her the Abslout Initiative Award for her contributions to Dallas fashion. In 2007, Terry sold the store to Tina Loyd. Terry served as store consultant until 2009 and then retired. "Terry's vision and determination laid a strong foundation that continues to support and inspire the Terry Costa team today,” said Loyd. “We are grateful for the legacy she built. She was courageous, and with each year, I gain a deeper appreciation for her intelligence, resilience, and pioneering spirit."

In 1986, Terry met the love of her life, Paul Weathers. They married a year later. Terry, the chic store owner and member of the Dallas Museum of Art, was a sharp contrast to Paul, a former banking executive who owned multiple automobile-related businesses and was a real-life weekend cowboy who leased a ranch on the Fort Worth outskirts. Only in the DFW metroplex could such a couple exist.

And yet Terry was a bit of a cowgirl herself. One of the happiest days of her life was Christmas 1992, when Paul gifted her Mariah, a beautiful black quarter horse, and fulfilled her lifelong dream of having a horse of her own. Both Terry and Paul wrote poetry, and they occasionally attended the annual National Cowboy Poet Gathering in Elko, Nevada. After retiring, Terry also volunteered at St Michael’s All Angels Episcopal School. She loved her weekly volunteer job reading to preschoolers once a week. When not working, Paul and Terry enjoyed life with their family by the swimming pool in Dallas; at the beach house she custom-built in Pirates Beach, Galveston; or on the sailboat at Lake Rockwall. Terry was a gourmet cook and showed her love for others by feeding them. From childhood to the end of her life, she also enjoyed playing the piano and gathering her loved ones around to sing.

Terry will be remembered for her sharp intellect, warmth, mentoring, fine cooking and entertaining, generosity, and unparalleled sense of style. Her family and friends will miss her greatly.

Kevin and Adrienne would like to express our gratitude to the Weathers family, especially John and Ashley, Paul and Tonya, and Terry’s neighbors, all of whom watched over and took loving care of Terry and her sister Sheila in their final years. Your love and kindness inspire us.

Visitation will take place from 4-6 PM, Friday, December 20, at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home, 7405 Northwest Highway, Dallas. A funeral mass will be celebrated at Saint Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church, 8011 Douglas Avenue at Colgate, Dallas, at 10:00 AM on Saturday December 21. Interment and reception will follow at Sparkman/Hillcrest, with the reception starting at approximately 12:30 PM.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Terry's name to The Alzheimer's Association, The Solve M.E. initiative, or the Dallas Museum of Art.