In Loving Memory of Tefta Kerxhalli

March 31, 1940 – February 24, 2025

With hearts full of love and sorrow, we say goodbye to our beloved Tefta Kerxhalli, who passed away on February 24, 2025, at St. Vincent Hospital. She was 84 years old, but the love, wisdom, and kindness she shared will live on forever.

Tefta was born on March 31, 1940, in Pogradec, Albania, and from the very beginning, she radiated love. She lived a life of deep faith, unwavering kindness, and selfless devotion to her family. She didn’t just believe in God—she lived her faith every day. She knew every Saint’s day, lit candles in prayer, and no matter what life brought her way, she always said, “Si ta ket shkrojtur Zoti”(however God has written it) —accepting everything with peace, grace, and gratitude.

She was a woman who made everyone feel at home. If you visited, you were family. If you didn’t accept her food, you offended her. She would greet you at the door with open arms and a table full of homemade lakror, petulla, and baklava—all made from scratch, just the way she had done for decades. And she wouldn’t let you leave without standing at the door, watching until you were safely on your way.

Tefta didn’t need material things to be happy. Her joy came from loving and caring for others. She never put herself first—she didn’t even know how. She poured everything she had into her family, and nothing made her prouder than her children, Anita and Todi Kerxhalli, and her grandchildren, Etjona and Petri Kerxhalli, Anisa and Geni Oparaku. They were the heart of her world, and she devoted her entire life to them.

But the love of her life was always her husband, Petrit Kerxhalli. She never stopped telling stories about him—how they met, how blessed she was to have him, and how God had answered every prayer she had for a husband when He brought Petrit into her life. She never had a single complaint about him—only gratitude. She would always say, with a smile, that she had been given exactly what she wished for: a tall, handsome man with curly hair, from a good family.

Her love, warmth, and faith made her a light in the lives of everyone who knew her. No matter what challenges she faced, she remained at peace, always trusting that God had already written her story. And what a beautiful story it was.

She is survived by her loving children, grandchildren, and her dear siblings, Spiro and Jorgjika Mile. She is now reunited with her beloved husband, Petrit, where we know she is at peace, watching over all of us.

We will honor her life on March 1, 2025, with a wake at 9:30 AM at St. Mary’s Albanian Orthodox Church in Worcester, MA, followed by a Funeral Service at 10:30 and her burial at Hope Cemetery.  Rice Funeral Home, 300 Park Ave, is assisting the family with arrangements.

Tefta’s life was defined by love—love for God, love for her family, and love for every person who walked through her door. Her absence leaves a space that can never be filled, but her love will remain in our hearts forever.