Theresa "Terry" Jessop

Terry passed away peacefully at home on the night of January 25, 2021 at the age of 77. She was born Theresa Lynn Coffman at St. Joseph Hospital in Denver on May 17, 1943 to Esther and James Coffman. She was the beloved younger sister of Jean, who was 15 years her senior and helped raise Terry alongside her own 6 children. She graduated from Cathedral High School in 1961 and from St Joseph School of Radiologic Technologists as an X-Ray Technician in 1963.

She married Bill Jessop, a construction mechanic in the US Navy, in 1970. They had grand adventures together as a young married couple stationed in Pearl Harbor, HI and Adak, AK. They settled in San Jose, CA, where their two boys David and Mark were born before the family moved to Littleton, CO and remained to raise the boys.

She cared lovingly for Bill when he was diagnosed with cancer and was his advocate and companion until he passed away in 2001.

Terry enjoyed a diverse career. She started off as an X-Ray Technician in the mid 1960’s, and eventually moved up to a manager position with Kaiser Health in Denver.  In the late 1990’s, she returned to school and obtained a degree as a paralegal.  After a brief stint working with local law firms, she took a job as a transcriptionist with Porter Hospital in Denver before retiring shortly after Bill passed away.

Retirement brought Terry to Grand Junction, Colorado in 2003, to be near her son David and his wife Kelli as they raised their 2 boys, William and Caelan. She worked diligently in retirement to finish the mystery and suspense thriller books she had been working on for decades and ultimately self-published 3 novels between 2013 and 2015: What Justice Demands, Anything But Justice and Achieving Justice.

In 2020 she moved back to Littleton, CO to live with her son Mark, his wife Joy and their 2 children Noah and Ada as she began needing more help. She passed peacefully in their home under hospice care on the night of January 25, 2021.

Terry loved dogs and owned at least 9 of them throughout her life. In her final few months her favorite place to spend time was the Chatfield dog park in Littleton, where she would always comment that she wished she could  take all of the dogs home with her. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Terry’s name to Roice-Hurst Humane Society in Grand Junction, CO, where she adopted her current dog CJ (who will happily continue living with Mark and Joy). You can find the link to do so here:

https://rhhumanesociety.z2systems.com/np/clients/rhhumanesociety/donation.jsp?campaign=6&

Visitation will be held Friday, February 5, 2021, 10am, followed by Scripture Service at 11:30am. Both will be held at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 3101 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood. Private burial Fort Logan National Cemetery. You may view the Scripture service by joining on Zoom using Meeting ID 365 743 4720.

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