Teresa Massa

(From Parker Mortuary)

Teresa Ramirez Massa, 81, transitioned through her fight against cancer into her eternal resting place at her home in Joplin on Jan. 31, 2024, in the presence of her family. She was married to Richard W. Massa on March 19, 1971, in Kirksville, Missouri. On March 17, 2019, he preceded her in death.

Teresa was born June 15, 1942, in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, the daughter of Miguel and Aurora Ramirez. She graduated from Charles Page High School in Sand Springs and attended Benedictine Heights College in Tulsa, and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Government and later received a Master of Arts degree in Political Science and American Studies. She did additional graduate work at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Roosevelt University in Chicago, and at the University of Oklahoma.

She served as a legislative assistant in the Oklahoma Senate, worked in various federal and state programs, and was on the faculty of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma where she helped develop a number of interdisciplinary team-taught courses. She came to Joplin in 1972, working as manager of a retail store and later on the staff of the Ozark Regional Planning Commission. In 1978 she joined the administration of Pittsburg State University as director of equal opportunity and affirmative action. She retired from that position in 2007 after 29 years of service.

Teresa was a member of the Joplin branch of the American Association of University Women, serving two terms as branch president; a member of the Joplin Business and Professional Women’s Club, serving two terms as president, and several terms on the state board and on the Foundation board, of which she was president for three terms. She was also a member of the Woman’s Club of Joplin, the Pittsburg Altrusa Club, the Pittsburg Kiwanis Club, and the Pittsburg Chamber of Commerce. She served on the board of directors of the Girl Scouts of Gateway Council. Much of her work was with organizations centered on the raising of scholarship funds to enable women to attend college, and she organized silent auctions and other fundraising activities for scholarships.

“I went through college on scholarships, work study, and financial aid,” she said in a 2011 interview. “Someone gave the scholarship funds that made it possible for me to go to college.”

Teresa was a co-author of Contemporary Man in World Society, published in 1969, and with her husband was co-editor of a two-volume set, Classical Readings for Contemporary Man, also published in 1969. Both titles were used as textbooks at a number of colleges and universities in the early 1970s.

She is survived by a stepson, Tod R. Massa of Richmond, Virginia; two stepdaughters, Daphne A. Ewing of Nixa, Missouri, and Sara C. Boyle of Atlanta, Georgia; nine step-grandchildren; and two step-great-grandsons; a brother, Jose Ramirez of Tulsa; a niece, CeCeilia Stansill, of Tulsa; a great-niece, Trina R. Bresee, of Joplin; and multiple other nieces and nephews.

Visitation for Teresa will be held on Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 6:00 PM at the First Community Church in Joplin with a Funeral Service to begin at 6:30 PM. Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, February 16, 2024, at 11:00 AM at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Joplin with burial to immediately follow at Ozark Memorial Park in Joplin. 

Memorial contributions may be made to Soul’s Harbor or to the American Association of University Woman in memory of Teresa and may be entrusted to the mortuary.

Arrangements are under the personal care and direction of Thornhill-Dillon Mortuary, Joplin.