Terry L. Charest

Terry Lee Charest (née Levasseur) peacefully passed away at age 72 on July 24, 2025. Born on October 29, 1952 in Caribou, Maine to Wilfred and Leona, she was the oldest of three children.

Terry met her husband Dan while attending University of Maine at Fort Kent. They spent over 50 years together and lived in Maine, California, New York, and then retired in Florida.

Terry had an extensive professional career as a special education teacher in Maine, obtaining a Master Degree in Education of Special Education and was a fierce advocate for children and adults with disabilities. She was a talented American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter and teacher who loved gardening, baking, volunteering at school and church functions, and crafting.

Everyone said she had the most beautiful blue eyes and dimples when she smiled, which was often.

Every autumn in Maine, Terry led a foraging party on their property with her children and they would harvest bags of apples. She was extremely good at problem solving and made a contraption out of a broken mop handle and a plastic bucket to reach the highest and best apples. The apples would be used in baked items such as apple crisp and pie, and it was nice for everyone to spend time together in the warm and delicious-smelling kitchen.

The property in Maine also had bumper crops of fiddleheads, a local delicacy of unfurled, young fern-tips. Terry taught her children to identify and find the baby ferns. Every spring the family would go to the stream bed in the woods and collect and process the fiddleheads for freezing.

The family also loved spending time with Terry and her parents in the northern Maine woods at a relation’s camp on a lake. As there was no electricity there were many games of cards, fishing and boating, and hunting for hazelnuts and raspberries. Terry loved her family deeply and everyone loved being together at the camp.

One of her favorite activities was taking her family to pick strawberries in Canada. She looked forward to this every summer. The warm weather was also when Terry loved to pick out her flowers for the year and plant colorful displays in her garden boxes. These made the house in Maine even more beautiful.

She deeply loved her children and delayed going back to work to make sure they had enough time together. When her children wanted a cat, Terry convinced her husband to adopt one cat. But when the family went to the animal shelter each child wanted a different cat. Terry knew how important it was to her children and the family left with three cats. The cats seemed to know who had advocated for them and would follow Terry around the house. When she went outside to hang up the washing they would follow her in a line.

Terry was exceptionally kind and made many life-long friends. She had a great sense of humor and was spontaneous and fun-loving. She was a dedicated wife, nurturing mother, loving grandmother, supportive sister, and a loyal friend to many. She is deeply missed by all who knew her.

She is survived by husband Daniel Charest, sister Vicki Choby, brother Scott Levasseur, children Dani Costello, Amanda Beck, and Kate Florendo, and two grandchildren Maggie & Sylvie.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Parkinson Disease Association in honor of Terry and to support finding a cure.

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