Reverend Theresa (Terry) Schmoker was called home to heaven by our Lord on October 2, 2023. Terry was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and minister to many. She was preceded in death by her father Nicolas Mikulich and her youngest daughter Amanda Guerra. Terry was born on January 23, 1954, in Seattle, Washington to Nicolas and Barbara Mikulich. She attended Sealth high school, graduating in 1972. Terry began her life of service at a young age volunteering in a Seattle nursing home.

Terry and Duane became childhood friends in 1968. They were married on June 11, 1977 and moved to the Tri Cities. Terry was the loving mother of 3 children, Matthew, Sarah, and Amanda Schmoker. She provided them with life’s great opportunities through music, dance lessons, scouting, sports, church life, academic achievement, and service to others. She was blessed with 6 paternal grandchildren.

Terry continued her life of service, founding an outreach program at All Saints Episcopal Church in Richland. In 1980, she led the congregation to “adopt” families needing food, shelter, and spiritual support. The Anaya family was the first of many that God brought to Terry and the church. The “Anaya family” including spouses and 10 children, remain an integral part of Duane and Terry’s “family”.

In the 1990’s Terry was called to the ministry. She attended the University of the South, becoming an ordained Episcopal minister. She continued ministering to those in need with a focus on the migrant populations in Washington. Through her ministry she orchestrated the feeding, clothing, and sheltering of hundreds of families in the Seattle area. She served others until she could no longer physically continue. God worked through her leaving a lasting mark on all those that she served.

Terry is now in heaven with God, her daughter Amanda, and her dad Nick. She is at peace and free of pain and the burdens of this life. She surrounds us with her spirit, smiles and says….. “I will always love you….this is not goodbye, but rather…. I’ll see you later”.

John 14:1-4 (NIV) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 (A Time for Everything): “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (The Love Chapter): “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”