While attending John Carroll University, Andrea Rose Teodosio checked if seniors who lived in her apartment building needed her to pick anything up from the grocery store. After one resident had surgery, Andrea made them dinner. And when another resident had to move to an assisted living facility, she recruited other students to pack her belongings and assist in her move. Helping people was Andrea’s way of life.
“She was probably the kindest person I ever met. I could see it in the way she treated other people,” says Linda Tucci Teodosio, her mom and Summit County Juvenile Court Judge. “She was one of those folks that didn’t want anybody to ever feel left out.”
During the week of Feb. 7, 2011, Linda was departing for a Baltimore conference, and Andrea was leaving for a Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia, skiing trip. Linda told her 22-year-old daughter, By the time I get back, you’ll be gone. I love you. Those were the last words she said to Andrea’s face.
Linda will never forget Feb. 12, 2011. Back at home, Linda received a message: Andrea was in a skiing accident. CPR was performed, but responders weren’t able to restart her heart. Linda collapsed.
Immediately, Linda, her husband, Thomas, and their son, Christopher, rushed to Pocahontas Memorial Hospital, where Andrea had been taken. About halfway there, they got a call — Andrea didn’t make it.
Devastated, the family members said their goodbyes to her at the hospital. Later, while going through her belongings at home, they found nonprofit business cards. It dawned on them — this wasn’t the end. This was a new beginning.
“I thought, We can’t let her light go out simply because her life has ended,” says Linda, now a 68-year-old Munroe Falls resident. “There were so many things that she would have done, people that she would have cared for, causes that she would have championed — we need to do it for her in her name.”
The family started the Andrea Rose Teodosio Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit that funds causes near to Andrea’s heart. It assists underprivileged people and seniors, addresses environmental issues and promotes community service and education. The foundation has funded an annual school supply giveaway at the Akron Zoo, rooms for survivors of elder abuse at the Hope and Healing Survivor Resource Center, a sensory room at the Akron Children’s Museum and more. It also granted $50,000 to the Summit Metro Parks for its Cycling Without Age program, which adds trishaws — bikes with a seat in the front for seniors or disabled passengers — to help explore Munroe Falls Metro Park uninhibited. Plus, it granted $32,230 to Akron Children’s Hospital for playful dog-shaped wagons to transport kids instead of wheelchairs.
Andrea’s story prompted students to partner with the foundation to start A Rose Project, which has provided special occasion dresses for youth in need. Other students helped with Project Warm, collecting warm items that were donated to outlets including Project Rise, which serves homeless Akron Public Schools students.
Like her daughter, Linda leads with compassion. With degrees in elementary education and law from The University of Akron, Linda is the longest-serving Juvenile Court Judge in Summit County history, with around 22 years on that bench. “I decided I would run for Juvenile Court,” says Linda, “to allow me to explore my passion … of working with kids and try to circumvent that pipeline between schoolhouse to prison, and maybe I could do some things to address those concerns earlier on.”
Specialized dockets help her address root causes of crimes, including Crossroads, which helps get treatment for offenders with substance use disorder, a mental health diagnosis or both; Restore Court, which helps human trafficking survivors get restorative care; and Family Reunification Through Recovery Court, which addresses substance use issues to reunify parents with their children. Attending mental health counseling to process her grief has prompted Linda to consider grief and mental health as factors. “We deal with youth here that have lost a parent, lost a loved one,” she says. “It helps me to recognize … that it’s a real process to come through grief … and the importance of making sure people are connected with the help they need.” She advocates for people to use the court’s Family Resource Center and Diversion Services, which served 563 clients in 2022.
Heavily involved in the community, Linda helped start the Ohio State Bar Association’s Wellness Advisory Board to assist lawyers in coping with secondary trauma. It connects lawyers with therapeutic activities like meditation, wellness walks, running, book clubs on stress management and more.
It’s been 14 years without Andrea, and in her memory, the foundation has funded over 20 local causes. The foundation hosts its main fundraiser, Angel A.R.T. Auction, Feb. 5, 2026. Meanwhile, Linda and other board members are looking for more projects to fund that would have made Andrea smile.
“Andrea would be blown away by the things that have been able to be done in her name,” she says. “It’s allowed her to make the lives of other people better. … The foundation’s allowed us to keep her spirit alive.”
Mal McCrea
