Therese Ouida Celine Persaud

Therese Blacker Persaud, 89, of Decatur, GA, passed away surrounded by her loving family on September 7, 2021. She was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka to parents Edmund Blacker (Captain in Sri Lanka Army) and Adeline Blacker née Dissanaika (kindergarten teacher ) on December 13, 1931. Therese as a young child was observed by her aunts, many of them teachers, to be extremely intelligent and also displayed a clear love of learning. They encouraged her to go to England to further her studies. The onset of the journey by sea took a remarkable turn when she met her husband Ganga for the first time as the boat set sail for England. The boat had stopped in India to pick up passengers, which included Ganga. He was also going to England to further his studies. They had several accomplishments in their early life together in England, graduating with Bachelor degrees in Economics, getting married and the birth of three daughters. They moved to Ganga’s home country Guyana, where they both worked in a rural village high school. Therese blossomed as a gifted teacher. She cared deeply for each and every one of her students and developed an array of creative strategies to unleash their talent. She successfully coached the Annandale Academic Quiz Team to a national championship, beating several city schools in the tournament. The students were ecstatic to get a helicopter ride over the city as the winning prize. The family moved to California, where she got her Masters in Education from Stanford University. Passionate about teaching underprivileged children, after completing their degrees she and Ganga moved to Jamaica. Within a few years she became the teacher training director at Excelsior Education Center churning out numerous quality teachers with long careers in the profession during her tenure there. Later in life, Therese returned to the US with her family and resided for the last 39 years in Decatur Georgia. She returned to the classroom as an assistant teacher with Dekalb County School district until she retired. During retirement she helped daughter Tanya, who became a language arts teacher, with an annual student poetry assignment. In her final years, she enjoyed time with her grandchildren whom she adored. Gardening was her passion as she loved flowers, in some ways as much as teaching. Every fall and spring brought her joy and excitement working in her garden. She invested her life in the complete adoration of and bringing out the best in those she loved. We will miss the many, many birthday cards she sent. Often with wise words from great poets and life orators that spoke to us meaningfully and particular to our specific birthday age. May her soul keep shining in all of us. She is preceded in passing by her parents Adeline & Edmund Blacker, brother Patrick of Sri Lanka and sister Marie of England. She leaves behind to cherish her memory- husband Ganga, daughters Tanya, Donna & Nalini, son’s in law-Glenn and Steve, grandchildren Christopher, Meera, Indira, Carey, Emily and Donielle and great grandchildren children Daelen, Drea-Claire, Ezra and Archer.