M. Teresa Moriarty Darwin

M. Teresa (Moriarty) Darwin of Fairhaven passed away Wednesday after a brief and courageous bout with a liver tumor. She was 77. Terry was the wife of John C. Darwin and the daughter of the late Capt. Gerald and Mary Moriarty.

Terry was born on Nantucket and grew up in New Bedford. She graduated from Dean Academy in Franklin, Mass., and The Katherine Gibbs School in Boston.

Terry began her career as a legal secretary, working at the New Bedford firm of Abrahamson, Titus, and Levinson. Soon after her marriage, she became a Navy wife, a career in itself. She made her family at home in a number of ports, including San Diego, Norfolk, Newport, and New York City. During John’s Vietnam War tour of duty, Terry held the family together, returning to Fairhaven for its 18 month duration.

Until last year, Terry was the Administrative Assistant at the Board of Health in Fairhaven. At a retirement party celebrating her nearly 24 years in that position, state and local officials praised Terry’s dedication and service to the town.

Terry was a member of The Wamsutta Club, The Fairhaven Colonial Club, The New Bedford Mothers Club, The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, The Old Dartmouth Historical Society, and The Descendents of Whaling Masters. She loved to travel, to shop, and to spend time with family and friends.

In addition to her husband John, Terry leaves her children, Barbara Burr and husband Toby of Marion; Wendy Wakeman and husband Bradford of North Andover; Joshua and wife Sandra of Needham; and Susan Ordahl of Irvington, N.Y. She will be missed by her grandchildren: Tucker and Alaska Burr, Millicent Wakeman, Elsa and Trygve Ordahl, and Jack and George Darwin. She leaves her sister, Barbara Carroll of Warwick, R.I., and nephews John T. Carroll also of Warwick and Michael Carroll of New York City.

Terry was predeceased by her parents and her brother, James Moriarty.

Her Funeral Mass will be held on Monday, November 8, 2010 at 10am in St. Lawrence Martyr Church, 565 County St., New Bedford. Visiting hours on Sunday 3-6pm in the Waring-Sullivan Home of Memorial Tribute at Fairlawn, 180 Washington St., Fairhaven. Burial in River-Side Cemetery, Fairhaven. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Massachusetts General Hospital Development Office, 165 Cambridge St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114 or St. Luke’s Southcoast Health System External Affairs, 101 Page St., New Bedford, MA 02740. For online tributes or directions: www.fairlawnmortuary.com