Teresita Azurin Dacey

    Mrs. Teresita A. Dacey of Watertown died peacefully surrounded by loved ones on Monday, February 9, 2026. She was 98. Lovingly known as Terry to friends, neighbors, and colleagues, she was tenderly called Pachee by her late husband, Gene, whom she also called Pachee.

     Teresita’s birthday is April 1, 1927, “an April fool” she liked to joke. She was born in Sibalom, Antique, Philippines, the daughter of the late Dr. Raymundo Azurin, Sr. and Doña Consuelo Gella Azurin. The second youngest of seven; five brothers and her beloved sister and best friend, Matilde Consuelo Azurin Crespo, she grew up among many of her extended family whose roots run thick and deep in Antique Province, the ancestral home to many prominent Filipino figures including her grandfather, Don Vicente Rendon Gella, a governor of Antique.
     Her father’s renown as a medical officer in the years leading up to the Japanese invasion made the family a target. A Japanese spy, posing as a vendor, was driven out of the capital, San Jose de Buenavista, by Dr. Azurin. When word reached the family that the vendor, now an Imperial Japanese officer, was returning for revenge, they hurriedly fled.
Their departure was none too soon. Setting off predawn by banca, a traditional outrigger boat, they could see the headlights of the Japanese convoy entering the capital. The family spent the remainder of the occupation hidden in the mountains near Pandan, sustained by loyalists resisting the tyranny of occupation. Despite the hardship, Terry
remembered those years with surprising fondness.

     Following the war, Terry returned to her studies, and eventually earned her degree in pharmacy from Centro Escolar University. In 1956, she accepted a position as a researcher under Dr. Sidney Farber at the Cancer Research Foundation in the Jimmy Fund Building.

     Her life changed forever when she met a dashing, handsome Hungarian-born Harvard Lawyer at social event at the International House in Cambridge. She said they met each other’s gaze on the steps to the dance floor and both instantly knew this was going to be trouble. They married and began their Hungarian-Filipino-American family in Porter Square before settling in Watertown, where they raised their two children, Glenn and Beth.
     From Glenn’s birth until Beth turned five, Terry was the traditional mom, but her medical interests brought her back to professional life, eventually joining SmithKline Beecham, where she worked as a medical technologist until her retirement at age 71. 
     The United States was her forever home, but while she never entertained returning to the Philippines, Terry held  Antique and her origins in her heart which manifested into real outreach. She, like Gene, put education above all, but she was also driven to give whether she had little or lots. In her early years in the US, she quietly sent financial support to her home parish and to schoolchildren in need. Father Edione Febrero, President of Saint Anthony’s College in San Jose de  Buenavista, would later recall the steady generosity of the Azurin sisters Teresita and Matilde.

      Terry was the global adventurer to Gene’s affinity to his house and castle. From when her kids were old enough to toddle behind her, Terry brought Glenn and Beth to experience things near and far; the Peabody Museum, the New England Aquarium, the laying of the wreath of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day in DC, the return to the Philippines to meet the relatives. Terry was also the perpetual entrepreneur selling Avon and eventually Amway.
     In retirement, Gene and Terry embraced the social and active rhythm of their long partnership: summers on Cape Cod, winter weeks in New Hampshire, dancing with the Square Riggers Club, attending gatherings of the Hungarian Society and the German-American Club, and celebrating countless spring commencements at Harvard. They never missed a Harvard Law School reunion until Gene’s passing. Gene liked to brag about how his wife lit up the room. While Gene was charmingly loquacious, Terry drew attention by her charismatic radiance and authentic and charming grace.
     Terry was above all generous. As her financial security grew, so did her charity. In a dynamic yet comfortable  retirement, Terry established an enduring academic scholarship in the name of her parents at Saint Anthony’s College in San Jose de Buenavista, Antique. At its inception, it would support two financially disadvantaged students with academic excellence, to receive full tuition scholarships to pursue nursing degrees. Over time, her philanthropy expanded to include additional recipients in engineering, economics, and other disciplines. To date scores of students have benefited, along with their families and local communities.
     To assure its perpetuity, in 2020, she formalized her living philanthropy and seed-funded the Gella Azurin Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its mission, as was hers, is to create opportunity through education.

     Terry was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 58 years, G. Eugene Dacey, in 2018, Pachee. This gave her a third wind and revival of her wanderlust. That summer she traveled to Sweden, then Dallas, TX and then eventually traveling to the Philippines to be with her sister Matilde, her best friend and last surviving sibling to play their favorite vice, mahjong. On her second trip the same year, Terry was present to say her final goodbye as if Tilde had waited for her.
     Terry returned to her home in Watertown where she and Gene raised their children, danced and where she had bid Pachee goodbye. Thanks to the devotion of Hilda Nonato, who dutifully cared for Terry until her last breath, Terry was able to remain in her home.
     She is survived by her children, Glenn Dacey and his wife, Deena, of Hillsboro, New Hampshire,, and Elizabeth “Beth” Dacey-Fondelius and her husband, Johan Fondelius, of Stockholm, Sweden; and by her grandchildren, Connor and Tyler Dacey, and Alexander and Kimber Fondelius.

     Family and friends are welcome to celebrate Teresita's life at a visitation on Friday, February 20, 2026, from 8:30 to 9:30 AM at Nardone Funeral Home, 373 Main Street, Watertown, MA. A Funeral Mass will follow at 10:00 AM at St. Luke's Parish in Belmont. Burial will take place at St. Patrick's Cemetery, Watertown. All are welcome to join the family for lunch following the burial; restaurant to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gella Azurin Foundation.

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