Stillwater says good bye to beloved EMT

By Laurie Gordon
STILLWATER — On Saturday, the Stillwater Township School Sixth Grade Girls Basketball Team played their game against Newton/Andover/Green in memory of a pillar in the Stillwater community. Terrie DeFabritis had died after a double lung transplant at The Newark Beth Israel Medical Center the day before. The beloved single mother of six and EMT was a fighter all of her life right up until the end. In the truest sense of the words, “To know her was to love her.” She gave of herself, always lent a hand when needed and touched so many lives.
The coach of the sixth grade team, Chrisha Wright, was also a friend of DeFabritis. Following the game, she posted pictures of it on DeFabritis' Facebook page with the message, “Today we took a moment for Terrie and played this game just for her. Won 36-6. We love you.” DeFabritis had followed the team over the years. She supported so many local teams, organizations and people and she was her kids' and grandkids' biggest fan.
On December 23, 2015, The Township Journal published an article about what DeFabritis called, “Terrie's Quest for Angels Breath." DeFabritis was officially told that a transplant was her only option on Nov. 18, 2014 by the Head of Pulmonology at Deborah Heart & Lung Center in Browns Mills, New Jersey.
“I went there for an evaluation after being hospitalized on October 4, 2014 for a heart attack after marching in the Sussex County Fireman's Parade,” DeFabritis said. No blockage was found, and she was told she had "broken heart syndrome." This meant that her heart was overworked, because her lungs were not doing their job.
For DeFabritis, being on donor lists, like the NJ Sharing Network, was her only chance. There was a list of criteria she had to meet to make those lists, and she did.
“I am grateful that I have been blessed with the lifeline of being listed with the NJ Sharing Network,” she said at the time. “Without this lifeline – that getting to has been a journey--- I will not survive. I am a high sensitivity patient needing lungs to continue my life. God willing they will be received at the perfect time.”
DeFabritis and her family then waited several years. She was in and out of the hospital and then... that phone call came.
On January 8, she posted on the Terrie's Quest For Angels Breath Facebook page, “I'll be offline for a while. Some wonderful, loving soul chose to be an organ donor and for some reason they lost their life. Their family is in agony as God and their loved one is blessing me with their breath. Please pray for all of us! Please watch over my family whom I love with everything in me forever and for always, Amen.”
The chance for which she had been waiting, for new lungs, had come. As she had requested, her family and friends prayed. Her boyfriend and love of her life, Bill Talmadge, and her family posted updates from the hospital over the next few days. On Friday, January 13, Terrie DeFabritis, at age 55, passed away peacefully and courageously following a long battle with lung disease after complications from the transplant.
DeFabritis loved her community and the community loved her back. Born in Newton, she lived and worked in the area all her life. She graduated from Kittatinny Regional High School then Sussex County Community College. DeFabritis worked for many years as a corrections officer and security supervisor and had also been a cook at the Fairview Lake Camp and a driver for Stocker Bus Company. She was a founding and life-long member of the Hampton Township Fire Company as well as the Swartswood and Fredon Fire departments, and her passion and calling was being an EMT and firewoman. DeFabritis served as a captain with the Sussex County Fire Police, as well as officer and life member of the State of New Jersey Fire Police, the Sussex County Fireman's Academy, and as the county Board of Public Safety. A life member of the Sussex County and State of New Jersey Exempt Fireman's Association, she was also past secretary and a member of the Relief Association.
As an EMT, she was a life member of the Newton First Aid Squad as well as the Stillwater and Hampton Township squads. A past member of the 12 Dist. N.J. First Aid Council, she was also a member of the N.J. Forrest Fire Association. A former Girl Scout troop Leader in Stillwater, DeFabritis was a member of the Broadcaster Drum and Bugle Corps, as well as a former car pool wrestling mom. Above and beyond all of this, DeFabritis was an exceptionally caring and devoted mother and grandmother.
One of her six children, Chelsea Gunmmerson, said, “I love you always, Mommy. It wasn't supposed to be like this: you're supposed to be here with us. One more chance to tell you how amazing of a person you were and we were the six luckiest kids on earth to call you our mom. We love you, Rest Ii peace, angel.”
DeFabritis leaves behind her a legacy of being courageous and never giving up. She also leaves a message. On New Years Day, she posted, “Bring on 2017!!! Three years smoke free, it bought me some time. My wish is you or your loved ones will stop smoking now.”