Therese's Story
Therese McFadden was born on March 25, 1959, in Pasadena to John and Virginia McFadden and was raised in San Marino, CA, the youngest of four children. Her family moved in 1977 to Newport Beach, CA where Therese attended community college and later transferred to UCLA. Therese would go on to graduate in 1981 from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
Inspiring Mother & Wife
Therese grew into a strong and beautiful woman who was closely connected to her family, friends, and community. She had a very dry sense of humor and loved to make her friends laugh. Therese was an eternal optimist, she always saw the best in people, and as an artist loved beauty in the arts, and in nature. Therese was extraordinarily dedicated to her work, and was selfless individual, always sacrificing her own interests to support friends and family.
Marriage and Family
In 1986 Therese married Donald Wisdom and relocated to Santa Clarita California. There in Santa Clarita Therese formed new friendships and spent time raising her two boys, Brian, and Andrew. Therese was a class mom a team mom, and the absolute best mom and wife to her “three boys.
Trader Joes - Her Second Family
In 2008 with her boys in high school, Therese ventured back to work, signing on as an employee for Trader Joes in Palmdale CA. Trader Joes became more than an employer to Therese, she became remarkably close to her fellow teammates and her customers, often referring to her store as “my second family”. She embraced the Trader Joes philosophy of product quality and value, and spent many hours outside work studying the origin, composition, and qualities of the products she was presenting to her customers.
Something Felt Different
In late August 2023 Therese was experiencing elevated levels of abdominal discomfort in her abdomen and showed signs of bloating. Therese usually would fight through the daily aches and pains that began in middle age, but this time the pain, fatigue and the swelling were noticeable different.
Cancer Diagnosis
Finally, over Labor Day weekend Therese checked into Henry Mayo Hospital for a battery of tests. The tests came back positive for ovarian cancer. We scheduled a full abdomen exam at Providence Hospital in Mission Hills. Due to the backlog of cases Therese had to wait over 6 weeks for the laparoscopy exam and was finally admitted on October 20th, 2023.
The laparoscopy revealed that Therese was in Stage III cancer with spots on both her liver and intestines. After a full round of chemotherapy Therese was sent home from the hospital at the end of October.
It Happened So Fast
Therese was readmitted to Henry Mayo hospital at the beginning of November 2023 to continue her chemotherapy and dialysis treatments.
On the morning of November 18th, however, her condition worsened. During the evening of November 18th her blood pressure and heart rate began deteriorating. The doctors and nurses sent her to intensive care, but it was too late, two blood clots had settled in her lungs. We lost Therese to this world in the early morning hours of November 19th, 2023.
The Therese Wisdom Memorial Foundation (Teal Wisdom) honors Therese, our wife, mother, sister, and friend, through our backing of non-profit organizations committed to ovarian cancer patient support, and funding important leading edge ovarian cancer therapies. We are family united in the belief that one day we will triumph over the scourge of ovarian cancer.
Our Commitment
We are establishing the Therese Wisdom Memorial Foundation to raise awareness and support for the care and treatment for women impacted by ovarian cancer. We have partnered with non-profit organizations dedicated to delivering patient counseling and vital support services, and together with the medical community hope to make a difference in the fight against ovarian cancer.