{"id":124393,"date":"2026-02-05T22:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/124393\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T22:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T22:04:07","slug":"bay-ridge-cares-celebrates-life-of-teri-brennan-at-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/124393\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Ridge Cares Celebrates Life of Teri Brennan at Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bay Ridge Cares hosted an event celebrating the life of its founding board member Teri Brennan at Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, 6753 Fourth Ave., Feb. 1.<\/p>\n

Brennan died Oct. 16, 2025. She was 62.<\/p>\n

Friends and family gathered at the church to remember Brennan.<\/p>\n

\"\"Over 80 people showed up to remember the life of Teri Brennan.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday, we gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of Teri Brennan, and the room was filled with exactly what she gave so freely: love, laughter, purpose, and community,\u201d the nonprofit organization wrote on Facebook. \u201cMore than 80 people came together\u2014family, friends, and community partners from every chapter of her life\u2014to remember the time she shared with us, the work she devoted herself to, and the lasting impact she made on our neighborhood and far beyond it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Over 80 people showed up to remember the life of Teri Brennan.<\/p>\n

The organization is run by volunteers to build community relationships and help neighbors in need.<\/p>\n

Speakers included Bay Ridge Cares President Karen Tadross and staff, Community Board 10 District Manager Josephine Beckmann, Councilmember Kayla Santosuosso, State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, and former Councilmember Justin Brannan.<\/p>\n

Closing Prayer was conducted by Pastor David Aja-Sigmon.<\/p>\n

\"\"State Sen. Andrew Gounardes.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

\"\"Councilmember Kayla Santosuosso.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

\"\"District Manage for CB 10 Josephine Beckmann<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

\"\"Pastor David Aja-Sigmon.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a way of making civic duty feel a little less intimidating\u2014and a lot more human,\u201d said Tadross. \u201cShe had a quiet way of bringing people together, helping them look<\/p>\n

past labels, listen a little longer, and recognize the shared hopes that connect us all. For<\/p>\n

Teri, inclusion wasn\u2019t something you talked about\u2014it was something you practiced, every<\/p>\n

day, with kindness and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan was born on June 29, 1963. She attended John Dewey High School and continued her education at New York University and St. Joseph\u2019s College.<\/p>\n

She worked for networks such as Lifetime, A&E, and Oxygen, and moved into consulting. She then started her own home baking and photography businesses.<\/p>\n

Before Bay Ridge Cares, Brennan spent hundreds of hours cooking meals for neighbors who were affected by Superstorm Sandy.<\/p>\n

Brennan served on Community Board 10, was a member of the Bay Ridge Democrats, worked on political campaigns, and served on the Board of Elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe told stories,\u201d wrote Bay Ridge Cares. \u201cWe laughed. We teared up. And we were reminded, again and again, that Teri didn\u2019t just serve her community\u2014she shaped it, and she made all of us better for having known her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organization presented a check for $500 to Aja-Sigmon in Brennan\u2019s honor to continue the work of the food pantry at the church.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kathy McDevitt-Byrne and Sheila McGuckin from the Bay Ridge Cares Kitchen, which operated in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n

\"\" Bay Ridge Cares President Karen Tadross.<\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Bay Ridge Cares<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bay Ridge Cares hosted an event celebrating the life of its founding board member Teri Brennan at Fourth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-124393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}