Theresa Ann Anastos (Kennedy) of Bergenfield, New Jersey, died peacefully in her sleep at the grand age of 96 on February 5, 2023.

Born in Manhattan on December 3, 1926, to her late parents, John Patrick Kennedy and Mary Margaret Kennedy (McKenna), Theresa spent her childhood in several different top-floor apartments, zooming up and down the hills of Washington Heights on her roller skates, and offering knuckle sandwiches to anyone who dared mess with her four younger siblings - Patrick, Mary, Rita and Bernadette. In her teen years, Theresa worked as a telephone operator, where she fielded proposals from the scoundrels on the incoming lines, tore up dance halls with her friends, and wrote letters to World War II soldiers. Once, upon enclosing a photo with her letter, Theresa even won a beauty contest among the soldiers' pen pals.

After moving across the Hudson in her twenties, Theresa met her late husband, Nicholas Anastos, at a bar in Hoboken, where after just six short weeks of dating, the pair tied the knot. Despite having two children, several pets, running a small business, and the ups and downs of any marriage, Theresa and Nick remained married for 54 happy years until his death in 2010. Theresa and Nick loved to travel with family and friends.

Known to some as "The Sheriff," Theresa took no bull, but always took her B&B on the rocks, and her golden years didn't slow her down in either regard. She loved to dance, watch classic films, and collect figurines of pigs, cats, and unicorns. Theresa was an excellent seamstress and made everything from winter coats to Halloween costumes for her daughters and grandchildren. She had a major sweet tooth, as evidenced by her food of choice, rice pudding. And boy, did she know how to tell a story. But above all, she loved her family and God fiercely.

Theresa was preceded in death by her husband, Nicholas, parents and siblings. She was a beloved mother of Geralyn James (Kent) and Kathryn Pandise (James); cherished grandmother (or nana, depending on which kid you ask) of Sean Colton (Marisa), Craig Colton (Marissa), Lauren Hunt (Brock), Emily Pandise (Schuyler), Julia Pandise, and Gregory Pandise, and great-granddaughter, Zelda. She is survived by many nieces and nephews, cousins, and other extended family.

Services will be held at Queen of Peace RC Church, 10 Franklin Place, North Arlington, NJ on Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. Internment following at Holy Cross Cemetery, In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Theresa's name to The Shriner's Hospital for Children .