Teresa Kay Pope

Teresa Kay Pope, 51, passed on June 24th, 2023.
Terry was born in Cheyenne, WY on September 9th, 1971 at the F.E. Warren Air Force base. This was the start of her being the traveling type. Her next home was Great Falls, MT at the age of six. The next stop was Vandenburgh Air Force base in California where she stayed until the 7th grade. Uprooted again, she moved to Cheyenne, WY where she attended junior high school and high school at Carey Jr. High school and Central High school. This “California Girl” made quite a splash at Carey Jr. High. Cheyenne became a permanent home up to moving to Laramie, WY to pursue a teaching degree. While at the University of Wyoming she met her husband Tim. They received their degrees and searched for that first “real” job. Tim landed a job in the oil and gas industry in Vernal, UT. They in Vernal for three years and were transferred to Calgary, AB Canada. She left great friends in Vernal but, as Terry always did, made great friends during the five years they lived in Canada. The couple was then transferred to Sugar Land, TX. Terry began working at a private school teaching pre-kindergarten. As always, she managed to make more lifelong friends by the time they were transferred to Bucuresti, Romania in 2005. Terry really made the most of her time overseas visiting Paris, Vienna, Athens, Budapest, a few Greek islands and many places in Romania. More friends were made (notice the pattern?) that she has kept in close touch with. In 2007 the couple moved to Tulsa, OK. This is where Terry developed her love of working with plants. While Terry loved Tulsa and wanted to stay longer they moved back to Calgary, AB Canada for three years. Moving back to Calgary allowed Terry to reconnect with old friends and make new ones. In the summer of 2012 Terry was diagnosed with ocular melanoma (eye cancer). She was treated in Philadelphia, PA which is one of the few places that specializes/pioneers ocular melanoma treatments. Having not been to Philadelphia before, Terry made the most of the trip by walking miles and seeing all the sites during the days before her treatment. Fortune smiled on Terry and she became part of a study that was working on proactive treatments for ocular melanoma metastasis. It was then on to Midland, TX in 2013. A short stay in Midland had her back in Houston in the fall of 2014. When Tim changed jobs in 2017 it allowed Terry to move back to Tulsa, a place that they both loved very much. Reunited with her friends and again working with plants. During this period she started showing metastasis in her liver. God smiled on Terry as she was able to get in an immunotherapy trial that was only offered in three city, one of them being Oklahoma City – a short drive from Tulsa. The therapy required her to get an infusion once a week. The treatments started in February 2020. While traveling to Oklahoma City every week during the pandemic was arduous she was strong and rarely missed an appointment. Next it was back to Houston in 2022 to accommodate Tims new job. In the fall of 2022 the tumors in her liver began to show signs of growth. Terry’s fight ended on Saturday the 24th of June 2023.
She is survived by her husband, Tim Pope; parents, Burton Hillmann, Diane Schluck, and Cyndee and Gene Pine; and a sister Tammy Simpson (Matt).
She would like to have donations made in her name at Friends 4 Life animal shelter and ocular melanoma.