Theresa C. Rice
Theresa Cachuela Rice, M.D., resident of Houston, TX, and formerly of Whitehall and Eau Claire, passed away peacefully in her sleep, Monday, January 2, 2023.
Born Theresa Directo Cachuela, August 27, 1932, to Igmedio and Maxima Corpus Cachuela, in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Dr. Theresa Rice packed a lot of personality into her diminutive frame and avidly enjoyed sports, travelling and adventures. She grew up on the rice plantations of the Philippines, and relayed stories of dancing in the chaff thrown from the processing of the rice stalks. Theresa was the youngest of five sisters and was sent by their father to chaperone her older sisters when they went on dates. She could be bribed with candy not to report everything that happened on those dates. A visit to a palm reader was memorable, as it was proclaimed she would travel to distant lands and help many people. In fulfillment of that prophecy, Theresa chose not to follow the customs of homemaking or teaching, but to become a doctor, graduating salutatorian of Cuyapo High School and earning her medical degree from University of Santo Tomas, Manila.
Dr. Cachuela immigrated in 1956, and at a time when environments were challenging to a female, foreign-born physician, and continued her surgical training in Chattanooga, TN; Atlanta, GA; Lexington, KY; Youngstown, OH; and Winnipeg, MB. It was not uncommon for her to be found roller skating with the nurses during late shifts in quiet hallways of the hospital or cooking a quick snack for the staff using laboratory equipment. Dr. Cachuela was widely known to need to stand on a stepstool to examine patients, and when she was a surgical resident, a sterilized milk crate helped her reach the table. But when she progressed to be in charge of her own surgeries, the table was lowered to her height and colleagues had to bend to her level. Throughout, she was valued for her petite hands that performed delicate operations, with small incisions and quick recovery to the patients. Proof that being smaller has its advantages.
Sponsored by the City of Whitehall to be the surgeon, Dr. Cachuela was welcomed warmly and had many anecdotes of the Filipina adjusting to Wisconsin winters. She found surrogate families in the Richters, Walderas and Rombalskis, and always tried to pass on the love and support to the next generation. Theresa was attending to the care of Syliva Rice, teacher and wife of former Whitehall mayor, Tracy Rice, when Sylvia suggested she meet and play tennis with her son, Gregory. They married in 1974. Son, William Tracy, was born shortly afterward, and the Rice trio lived in Eau Claire before moving in 1982 to Kingwood, TX, a Houston suburb.
Dr. Rice held private practice for many years, then returned to the hospital setting as a locum tenens doctor, traveling to rural hospitals in the Houston region to work shifts as their emergency room physician. Local police officers came to recognize her Volvo station wagon as it zoomed into town, and often forgave her speeding as she waved and went on her way to the hospital.
Her husband, Greg, preceded her in death in 1990. In 2007, Theresa married John M. Hunnicutt Ph.D., formerly of Wisconsin and Washington, who passed away in 2012. Theresa remained active for many years, earning a black belt in martial arts, skydiving on her 65th birthday, competing in senior tennis tournaments, skiing, travelling, singing and dancing, until Alzheimer’s dementia affected her later years.
Theresa is survived by son, William Tracy Rice; daughter-in-law, Tabitha; and grandchildren: Mackenzie, Matthew, and Max; cousins: Ann Marek, Becky Rice, John Sundstrom, Ellen Everson, Ron Everson; and nieces and nephews and their families, including: Margie Stoy, Kristi Osborne, Mabel Solis, Joel Solis, Geoune Papasin, Anna Martino, Jennifer Hoh-Hill, and TJ Martin.
Memorial services will be held at St. Vincent de Paul in Houston TX, January 17, 2023, at 10:30 a.m., with the option to join livestream. Internment is at Rosewood Cemetery in Houston, TX. We celebrate her rich legacy of care, service, and helping others.
