Teresa Encarnación Pineda Goñi

Teresa Encarnacion Pineda Goni (1927-2025)
Known as a petite and forceful woman, Teresa Encarnacion Pineda Goni Deza died peacefully at a residential care facility in San Pablo California of complications from vascular dementia. She is survived by her three sons and their spouses: Fernando J. Pineda and Julie R. Watson, Juan A. and Glendine P. Pineda, Eduardo A. Pineda and Susie D. Wallenstein; her four grandchildren: Jack Pineda, Teresa June Pineda Benedict, Katy Tao Pineda, and Daniel Ming Pineda; and her three great grandchildren: Laughlin A. Benedict, Simone R. Benedict, and Deza E. Benedict.
Teresa was born September 22, 1927 in Trujillo, Peru to Juan De Dios Goni Lorea (1903-1992) an administrator for a trucking company, and Sara Rosario Deza Morales (1900-2011) a school nurse. Teresa also had an older half-sister Olinda Rosa Deza Trancoso (1925-2022).
Teresa lived with her half-sister and mother in Trujillo until she was seven, visiting her father's house in town, and her grandmother at the Goni finca. Her grandmother adored her black full hair and fair complexion which reminded the matriarch of their Spanish roots. Her grandmother insisted on Flamenco lessons, which Teresa dutifully attended while her mother, a regular winner of Trujillo's Marinera dance contests, taught her this national dance. The 1932 Trujillo Revolution etched a violent memory of seeing a dead body lying in the street on her way to La Escuela Belen, her elementary school.
The family of three moved to Lima where her mother became a private nurse for the national painter and musician Francisco Gonzalez Gammara. In 1945, Teresa graduated from La Escuela Tecnica de Comercio with the title of commercial accountant, and found work at an English Wool importer. In the early 1950s she met a young politician Fernando D. Pineda (1924-2018) who wooed her by plastering his election posters on the wall directly across from her house. They married in 1953, with Gonzalez Gamarra as a witness.
The young family immigrated to Chicago in 1958 with the three children under four years old. The move included the three Deza women and most of Fernando's siblings. Teresa went ahead to set up an apartment in Hyde Park and find work. Fernando arrived shortly after with the three boys and Teresa's mother. Teresa found work in the accounting department of the University of Chicago Hospital and Fernando began an economics program at the University.
The savvy Teresa took advantage of the employment perk at the hospital to receive an extraordinary discount on tuition to the prestigious Laboratory Schools, which made it possible for her three sons to receive a college prep education from elementary through high school. The ever protective mother was not afraid to criticize the school, and demanded her eldest son be able to take Home Economics. This led to a profound change in the school curriculum that made it possible for boys to also benefit from the practical life skills course.
Over the years Teresa and Fernando became Hyde Park fixtures, building a contemporary home designed by Keck & Keck, modernist architects, on historic Harper Ave. Their home became known for an annual Easter Egg hunt attended by neighboring families.
When she retired in 1992, the University installed a computer at her home in order to mine her extensive knowledge of the hospital's finances. Teresa said of her more than 30 year career, "I trained all of my bosses." She was also honored with a congratulatory letter from the archbishop of Chicago.
A doting grandmother, Teresa sewed clothes for all her grandchildren, and along with Fernando, regularly traveled to the East coast to help raise them. She participated in the International Women Associates organization, and together the couple became active members of Chicago's Peruvian community, raising funds for charities in Peru.
The family wishes to thank the loving caregivers who helped ease her final days. The family asks that you support caregivers in Teresa's honor. A private service will be held.