Teresa Stratton Fountain passed away peacefully with her son holding her hand on January 4, 2025. Born to Joyce Stratton and Raymond Stratton on November 12, 1956, in Indianola, Teresa graduated from Indianola Academy and made her life in Jackson after attending Delta State University and the University of Mississippi. She was a proud member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and sought further education at Mississippi College as an adult.
She is survived by her daughter, Claire Fountain, and son, Chandler Fountain and his wife, Yoojin Lee, along with their children; her sisters, Sharron Dobbins (spouse Gaines Dobbins), Kris Mahaffey (spouse Mike Mahaffey), and brother Lee Stratton (spouse Janet Stratton), and her nieces and nephews.
Teresa was an adored teacher at Wilkins Elementary School and Isable Elementary School in the gifted program until her untimely retirement in 2021 after a devastating stroke. She loved her work and students, with a passion for teaching, creativity, and learning that all around her could feel. Teresa was a long-time member of Christ United and found joy and fulfillment in singing in the choir. Teresa loved to sing and had a long history of theatre productions as a teen, passing this love of the arts to her children by taking them to plays, ballets, operas, and numerous art museums. She also instilled her values of empathy, thoughtfulness, kindness, and love for people in her children, her students, and those around her.
Teresa was always quick to laugh and smile, with a love for life she showed through her sharp wit and the ability to be the life of any party. She was able to strike up a conversation with anyone, about anything, at any time. She loved adventure, traveling, dancing, live music, and socializing.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Joyce Stratton; her father, Raymond Stratton; and her son, Cleaveland Fountain, with whom she has joined again beyond this earthly realm.
A memorial service will be held on January 19, 2025, at Christ United, 6000 Old Canton Road, Jackson, MS 39211. Visitation will be at 1 p.m. followed by service at 2 p.m. Flowers may be sent to the church.
Given Teresa’s love for the arts, donations can be made in her memory to the Mississippi Museum of Art: www.msmuseumart.org/ways-to-give/.
