Teresa Furness Memory Book

Teresa Furness - loved by all at MARCOL

Dear Roger, Christian and Zoe, Teresa personified all that was good with the world. The loyalty, love, kindness, humour and heartfelt meaning of family. She touched everyone with her genuine interest in others.

We are very grateful for all she has done for us over many years. She lived and breathed the MARCOL values. We’ve used her tenure and character to explain the special sauce that is MARCOL. The friendships that have built up over many years, the very genuine wish for the best for everyone, the energy and support that is bountiful, the fun that is had, the wonderful parties and the generosity of spirit. She personified it all and is very much missed by all that knew her.

There are so many wonderful tributes in this book all saying how Teresa has so positively touched their lives and so many fabulous photos that tell tales all of their own!

We wish you all the very best.

Rest in Peace Teresa.

Terence Cole and Mark Steinberg

Teresa knew Terence longer than I have. I met her for the very first time at our wedding and have had the pleasure of her in our lives for over 50 years. Teresa saw both our children born and grow up and our grandchildren come into this world, as we did her, with you and your children. Teresa will always and forever hold a special place in all our hearts and she will be sorely missed by us all.

Her kindness, humour and warmth were so special.

Rest in peace beautiful Teresa and thank you for all you have done for me and our family over many years.

All my love, Niki Cole xxx

Teresa was part of my entire life and a clear influence I have grown by. I especially remember our one on one chats, as I grew through my teenage years and I still live by her guidance today in many ways.

Teresa was a unique and extremely special lady who was wise and more importantly kind. It is her kindness that I will remember so fondly today and always.

Thank you for sharing your lovely lady with the world. She touched so many. We will miss Teresa.

Alex Cole xxx

Dear Roger, Christian and Zoe, Thank you for the privilege of saying a few words on behalf of Terence and Mark at Teresa’s funeral. It was such an honour to have the opportunity to speak and share some of the love that Teresa shared so openly and honestly with so many over the years.

Teresa lives on in all of us – the way she lived and loved serves as an important and meaningful message to us all.

Her funeral was one of the best parties I have ever been to. What a send-off you gave her!

She was there in every possible way. It has redrawn the lines for me on what a real sendoff means and something we should all aspire to. A true celebration of a life well lived.

Much love to you all.

We hope you enjoy the book and that it shares some of the special memories that we have of our wonderful Teresa.

Vx Victoria Boxall-Hunt

There is so much I could say about Teresa.

My fond memories... A truly special, courageous lady. A lovely, warm-hearted friend. Hugs. Every time I saw her had to have a hug. Twinkle in her eye, sometimes naughty. Her laugh. Not a preacher. She’d listen, cajole and encourage. A gift. Her photo board. Her love for her family. Discretion. She liked me to know she was the soul of discretion and fiercely loyal.

Roger.

The caravan.

Cruises. Shared experiences. Terence’s work family.

We all loved her. We’ll miss her so much.

Bossing Terence, when needed.

Her Mum. We often talked about her and how Teresa looked after her.

Time to start the party in another place ...

Love from Colin Giles xx

My first day at MARCOL, Teresa came into reception asked my name and gave my a hug straight away and said welcome! From then on the days she was in the office it continued, and what a hug she gave and didn’t care if guest/s where sat waiting to see someone.

Her family were everything to her, we always had a catch up on what we did at the weekends and was genuinely interested in what you had done, she had time for everyone, she let Richard and I stay at her caravan which we loved going to and meant so much, you will be missed you beautiful lady, so glad I got to see you before you left us.

Gaynor Driscoll x

When I think of Teresa, 20 years of fabulous fantastic memories can play through my mind and all will make me feel warm inside, grin ear to ear and so thankful to have known her. I feel sad to know I will not hear her laughter again, sit and chat about everything and anything or get that hug. I miss her.

Roger, Zoe, Christian and all the family, thank you for sharing her with us.

Love to you all. Jennie Carter x

Teresa and I shared September birthdays, 2 days apart, we first met in 2005 just as she was about to celebrate her 60th birthday. The moment we were introduced to each other at MARCOL we just knew we’d get along famously and I recall one of my first tasks from our boss TC was to organise a birthday cake to be sent to her at home, as always with TC the cake was to be exceptional, I was pretty daunted by the task for such a special birthday and just hope it was enjoyed.

We shared lots of fun times together and days in the office were always special, sharing our life events with each other. I will miss Teresa dearly she will always be in our hearts and there will be few days that will pass without her popping into conversations, recalling some wonderful Teresa moment – she truly was an amazing lady and I’m honoured to hold such precious memories of her.

Karen Jupp

Two Wheeled Caped Crusader It was the first time that I had been on a Xmas holiday with MARCOL. It was a two-day total indulgence of Amsterdam’s beauty and infamy; the stunning dinner barge, the Diva (what a voice), the elegant hand-rolled cigarettes (we were destroyed), the live show – front row reservations (we were destroyed - thank heaven for the cigarettes). The rumpy pumpy museum -Teresa hysterical with laughter, she and Terence holding on to each other, uncontrollable. And yet, the outstanding moment was when, ravaged from the previous evening, we were given scooters for an early morning tour of Amsterdam. Grouped at the bottom of the hill we looked up and there was Teresa, hurtling down the cobblestone street at breakneck speed, an adrenalin junkie, no brakes, her cape billowing out behind her. For an instant there was an astounded silence – we thought she was going to take off - and then in unison we let out a huge cheer and cries of: Come on Teresa, You Go Girl. She loved it.

An unforgettable sight and memory.

Dear Teresa, thank you xxx Susanna Racke

A memory I have is of when we were returning from a staff Christmas weekend in Paris on Eurostar. One of us had a headache and Teresa said she had some paracetamol. She went everywhere with a huge heavy case which contained everything. She got it down off the rack and opened it but at that moment the train jerked and the entire contents emptied over the floor. All of us got down on our hands and knees to retrieve the bits and pieces rolling around the floor of the carriage. We had all been drinking so that made it all the funnier.

Robert Brock

The memory of Tree uppermost in my mind is the 2003 Christmas party in Barcelona when we hired bikes and rode along the beach and into the old town. At least 20 of us. Susanna was chatting up the young studs on their BMXs but that’s a different story…….

I was riding right behind Tree and she was not taking prisoners…….either that or she didn’t have a clue about the brakes…..we went literally hurtling through the very narrow streets of the old town and I could see the horror on the faces of the pedestrians as Tree sent them diving for cover, her witchy cackle at full volume!

Teresa really was A Force Of Nature, I will so miss our (lengthy!) catch ups on the trials, tribulations and absolute joys of family life.

Chris Wagstaff X

Teresa had the ‘knack’ of always making you feel welcome. Her smile was infectious.

MARCOL-dos just won’t be the same!

Regards, Jane Fanis

Dearest, wonderful, lovely, lovely T, Your loss is unquantifiable. I only knew you for a stitch in time compared to many others, but in that short time we found the most wonderful friendship and my god, I loved you so dearly.

Despite the years that stood between us, we shared so many similarities and we always remarked what kindred spirits we were and how lucky we were to have landed in each other laps.

The thing about work colleagues is that you get to share the finer minutia of life with each other on a daily basis, all the silly things that don’t matter, but now all of a sudden mean so much now you’re gone. Like, I know where you keep your crab sticks and quark in the fridge (to this day I have no idea what the latter is!), I know that you use your refill bottle to fill your washing detergent and how incensed you were when Roger decided, out of the blue, to put it out for recycling after years of using it, which dehumidifiers you use at the caravan and your secret ingredient for soups and shepherd’s pie (Mushroom Ketchup btw, I also had no idea what that was either, but you’re absolutely right, I used the bottle you gave me last week and it really is the missing ingredient!). Whatever you buy, you buy at least three of in different colours and you always hid your primark bags on your trip home, you loved your events at Potters and your annual 40’s weekend in Sheringham, your friends Jean and Brian and Jeannie and the chap you befriended at slimming world, the way you pre-booked all your excursions on your cruises and wrote your detailed itineraries and how you liked to sit on the mixed tables for dinners onboard so you could chat to strangers. I’ll never forget the time we went for lunch and you came back brandishing Gordon Ramsey and then made him stay for a photo shoot! He was very obliging, people always found it difficult to say no to you.

We were so alike in so many silly ways, we loved our Queen, we always cleaned down our cupboards and our crockery for Christmas and said our grateful prayers before bed, we loved words, particularly writing (I’ll miss your Christmas newsletter stuffed into your Christmas cards and your Facebook reviews) but mainly speaking, I’ll never forget you bringing your knitting into my office and sitting for a ‘quick chat’ for an hour and a half, despite my phone ringing off the hook. Or you peeling and feeding me each individual section of an orange to cure my hangover after one of my famous heavy nights with Karen and Colin.

The thing I loved most about you is how you loved your family. You loved your lovely Roger SO much, every time I saw you, you always told me how grateful you were for your 50+ years together and I loved the story of how you met and many others along the way. You couldn’t believe you’d been so lucky to have had such a wonderful, enduring relationship, topped off with your beautiful children, your nieces and grandchildren.

You were devoted to them and told me so all the time.

It’s unfathomable to me that we won’t get to have one of our long video calls, or I won’t get to help you with your nipple tassels at the Christmas lunch, but most of all that thanks to Covid, you didn’t get to meet Garry and Jorah and we didn’t get the trip to the caravan that we planned.

I see you everywhere in our home, all the cake plates, fruit bowls and trinket trays you gave me to ‘set me up’ as we both loved to host, the blanket you knitted for Jorah and the ton of moisturiser you managed to squeeze into the nappy cake you made for us, all the heartfelt things you, so generously, gave us.

I don’t know why but I can remember everything you ever said to me, which is amazing because I can’t remember what I had for breakfast. Like everyone you ever met, I adored you T (and clearly hung off every word).

Your love and your hugs are infamous.

When we first met, I’d just been dumped and you walked into my office to a blubbering mess, frantically trying to do the job that I’d literally just started, I was so mortified. You leaned over my desk with your infectious grin and handed me a small teddy holding a heart, with a label you’d printed saying ‘Think of us, thinking of you’. I loved you immediately.

You were my London family, away from home. I’m so thankful to Roger for giving us the chance to come and say goodbye to you. I got to tell you that I love you and got to hear that you loved me right back and I’ll be forever grateful for that and even more for our short, but beautiful friendship.

T, you were naughty, warm, but most of all extraordinary. I just know that you’re somewhere up there with your lovely Mum now and that gives me such comfort as you missed her so much. I will never, ever forget you. I’ll keep your zest for life with me always, we all will.

Kelly Edwards xxx

My Darling Teresa, I will miss your beautiful smile, our chats and heartfelt bone crushing hugs which were so precious every time I walked into your office.

Always in my heart…. Love …Yasmin Akbari xx

Teresa was a truly special person, and I am so very grateful that our paths crossed. She was the heart and soul of MARCOL and impacted us all in so many positive ways. When people say MARCOL is a special place it is because of the rare few characters like Teresa that give off such joy and love that you can only want to be around them more. I will never forget her warm hugs when I was feeling sad, or the chats and advice she we gave me in Reception that always made me feel warmth and strong inside. Her stories, wise words and laughter will inspire me every day. I will miss her greatly.

Lots of love, Joanna Hay

Teresa and I worked together for 11 years, I was always so impressed with how much time she had for everyone, the way she never forgot to acknowledge the important things going on in my life despite having her own busy life presents for my engagement and wedding, the Slimming World manuals that appeared on my desk when I said I needed to lose a few pounds!!, cards when my daughter was born during the height of the pandemic, but most importantly, her sound counsel whenever we had our chats.

She was so mothering to all of us at MARCOL - a truly unique person.

There is definitely a new star in the sky that will forever be twinkling.

All my love, Katie James xxxx

Teresa was such a special lady to all at MARCOL. When my father passed, she would often check in to see how I was and give me a big hug. Even months after when people don‘t ask so much it meant so much to me. She was such a caring person to us all, and is already sorely missed.

Hannah Kennerley xxx

Beautiful Teresa, you were the life and soul of MARCOL. You always had time and hugs for everyone. I will never forget your positivity, mischievous personality and dirty, dirty laugh!! You were everyone’s office mum and we were so so lucky to have you.

I’m honored to have basked in your sunshine for even a little while.

Sevren Anderson Xxx

Teresa was one of the first people I met at MARCOL and she made me feel at home straight away. She was kind, caring, funny, sympathetic and supportive. She had a fabulous sense of humour and always had a word of wisdom when needed. I’d always stop in her office for a hug and a catch up and I will sorely miss those chats.

Miss you T. x Sarah Kiely

Amazing Tereasa was such a thoughtful, loving and kind person who never disappoints to make you smile!

Without fail, every time I walk past her office, she will welcome me with a “Hello Darling” and a kiss on the cheek.

It was a pleasure to work with Teresa and I send my condolences to her family.

Louie Sawyer

Teresa, you were a bright sparkly gem, who lit up every room that you entered. Your infectious laugh and bubbly personality made everyone at ease. Nothing was too much trouble, you had so much time and compassion for all. I loved our chats, your love for your family shone through and we had such a giggle sharing stories. I’m so glad that I had the chance to know you and you are so very deeply missed.

Jessica Percival

Teresa always had a smile on her face and always had time for everyone.

MARCOL will not feel the same.

Monica Tamayo