Memorials › Terri Jo Klima
Terri Jo Klima
24 Feb 1956 – 20 May 2024
| Birth | 24 Feb 1956 |
| Death | 20 May 2024 |
| Cemetery | Travis County Wells School Road Cemetery Manor , Travis County , Texas , USA |
| Added by | This Old Scarecrow on 04 Jun 2025 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/275929565 |
Bio
Instagram message from Camille J. Wheeler, photo journalist: I am mourning the loss of my dear friend Teri Klima , a native Austinite who passed away in May 2024 at the age of 68. When I met Teri in 2020, she was living beneath Interstate 35 in downtown Austin with her beloved Chihuahua, Billy Jo. I began learning Teri's story. She grew up in East Austin, attended Johnston High School, and became a mother. Later, she lived in Del Valle, near Austin, where she and her boyfriend shared a house. Beset by medical hardships, she suffered a heart attack and a stroke, and at some point, she lost vision in her right eye. Plagued by a raft of problems, Teri eventually found herself living as a member of the city's unhoused population. Within that community, she and Billy Jo became familiar figures at their I-35 tent camp. That location was my usual meeting place with Teri. I was there in February 2021 when she and Billy Jo were transported by Austin Mutual Aid to a motel during Winter Storm Uri. I was there in summer 2022 when Teri returned after having undergone toe amputation surgery as a result of her chronic diabetes. Teri battled addiction, and despite the enduring efforts of social workers, she repeatedly wound up back under I-35. Over time, she lost the ability to walk, and social care teams were successful in placing her at assisted care facilities. In 2024, she was a resident of a skilled nursing center. I last saw Teri there in early May. She seemed happy, and I was devastated to learn that she had left and then died within about a week. I will forever hear Teri asking, "You doing all right?" in her Texas drawl as she took a drag on her cigarette. She was kind, patient, and curious. I will forever see her beautiful smile. _________________________________________________________________________ A daughter of Rudolph John Klima Jr. and Vera Beatrice Hall. She had three documented marriages and one relationship, all in Travis County, Texas: Curtis Lee Delancey (born 08 February 1950): married 07 May 1977 - divorced 04 November 1977 (no children) Ervin Allen Bigley Jr. (born 15 January 1945): married 28 April 1980 - divorced 27 August 1982 (one son: John Allen Bigley - born 26 January 1982 in Travis County) Norman Steele Fluitt (born 06 April 1957): no marriage indicated (one son: James Scott Fluitt - born 21 April 1986 in Travis County) James Calvin Stevenson (born 14 March 1956): married 28 April 1989 (no children or divorce indicated) ________________________________________________________________________ Arrangements: Cook-Walden Funeral Homes of Austin, Texas
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