Teresa Marie Lotzer

Teresa Marie Lotzer, cherished sister of Jacqueline McLellan, died quietly in the afternoon on Thursday May 7, 2026. Her death leaves a great hole in our hearts, coupled with a deep sense of gratitude for her empathy, generosity, kindness, and wisdom, shared over many years with her friends, family, and the Edmonton pagan community.

How does one capture the essence of a person’s life? I can recount for you some small facts about her birth, career, friendships, spirituality, and death, but to attempt to illustrate, in a brief obituary, the depth of her spirit or the profound impact she had on her community seems impossible. Terry was a witch, a priestess of the Goddess Isis, a dear friend and spiritual mentor to many, and a gifted tarot card reader. She was a civil servant, a sorority sister, a traveller, a lover of cats, and a teacher of the mysteries. She was her own woman, one who lived and died on her own terms, despite conformist pressures on women of her generation and the limitations of physical disability.

Terry was born in Edmonton on September 15, 1949, to William (Bill) and Cecile Lotzer (nee Poirier). Raised in the Forest Heights neighbourhood, she chose to reside close to her beloved family as an adult. Her regard for her parents was palpable, and she was able to regale her visitors with a multitude of humorous and moving stories about Bill and Cecile. Terry lived the last decades of her life in her family home, and in the spirit of hospitality that she learned from her parents, she opened that home up for classes, celebrations, and spiritual gatherings, welcoming all who came with good intent.

Terry built her career as a provincial civil servant, working first for the Worker’s Compensation Board after graduating from Henderson’s Secretarial School in the early 1970s. She found mentorship at her next position with the AUMA (Alberta Urban Municipalities Association), which led directly to her long tenure with the Provincial Government of Alberta. The majority of her service for the province was as a communications specialist in Alberta Transportation, under its many and various departmental titles. For many years she travelled across the province to events and trade shows with information displays for the public, before settling into an administrative role in the later stages of her career.

Travel was deeply fulfilling for Terry. She travelled both with friends and family, being particularly fond of cruising and the Hawaiian Islands. She took her first cruise with her sister to the Mediterranean in 1970, followed by many journeys west, especially to Vancouver Island and to Hawaii. In 1973 she resided in Hawaii for a full year. In the mid 1980’s, Terry travelled with her mother through Europe, including a visit to Berlin to visit dear friends and to see the terrifying Berlin wall (from a safe distance). She cherished Jasper Place Lodge and the now closed River Lodge in Stony Plain as soul retreats which nourished and restored her. No matter where she journeyed, however, her heart was always called back to Hawaii, a place that became her soul’s home. In the last years of her life, when her mobility was too restricted to permit physical travel, her spirit still voyaged out across the Pacific to the islands. It is to Hawaii that we will, in the future, transport her ashes so that body and spirit may be together, in the place she loved most in this world.

Terry first encountered tarot cards in the early 1970s; the deck she acquired at that time became her primary working deck for the remainder of her life. Her private studies in tarot and various esoteric subjects lead her to the spiritual path of neopagan witchcraft in the 1980s and 90s. She served as the tarot reader and taught courses at Where Faeries Live, Edmonton’s pagan supply shop, in the early 2000s. She also organized witch camps, conferences, dances and social gatherings for the pagan community, and was the founding priestess of Spirit Lantern, a volunteer group which hosted open rituals for anyone who wished to learn about, observe, or celebrate the annual round of neopagan sabbats. Terry was generous with her wisdom and her time; over the years, hundreds of students benefited from her gentle instruction.

Terry was a warm, sensitive and loyal woman with a rich and loving personal life. She chose, however, not to marry or to parent children at a time when it was still the social expectation to do so. This permitted her to devote energies to her hectic career, to building and maintaining friendships over many decades, and to mentoring many younger witches and neopagans. Autonomy and self-determination were important in all decisions she made about her personal circumstances, and she had a will of iron in this regard. She found the last year of her life to be extremely trying, as her physical condition necessitated residential care in a facility. Rather than endure a prolonged institutional existence, Terry independently chose to shut down her body and depart for the Summerland.

Terry is survived by her sister Jacquie, her aunt Yvonne, an extended family of cousins, two charming cats, and an abundance of friends. A pagan funeral rite, followed by a potluck meal, will be held in the countryside close to Edmonton on Sunday June 28.

She Changes Everything She Touches, and Everything She Touches, Changes