Public relations executive filled her life with accomplishments, humor and caring

Terrazas grew up in El Paso, Texas, and was the daughter of two musicians who owned the El Paso Conservatory of Music.

A tenacious spirit, Terrazas attributed much of her determination to her mother.

Terrazas would say, “My mother was a feminist when most people did not know the meaning of the word. She deliberately did not teach her daughters to cook and sew – she didn’t want us to know how to do it. But she always encouraged my writing.”

At an early age, Terrazas began writing short stories and poems. She later went on to write for her school newspaper at El Paso High School. Despite being booted out of the high school writing club for a “flaming” editorial she wrote for the class newspaper, Terrazas was recommended by her teacher for a reporting job on the society page for the El Paso Herald-Post after graduation.

Two years later, the cub reporter became the youngest women’s page editor ever at the newspaper. Just as her career seemed destined to take off, she married fellow El Pasoan Carlos Terrazas, an electrical engineer who would become the father of her three children. He was relocated to Baltimore, then to Tucson in 1956 to work on a Cold War warning radar system on Mount Lemmon. Tucson became their permanent home.

During this time, Terrazas continued her relationship with the Herald-Post by supplying them with humorous columns written from Tucson, and she also taught piano. She later became the special sections editor for Tucson Newspapers Inc. She went on to work for several advertising and public relations agencies in Tucson.

When she realized the housekeeper she had hired to look after things at home was making more money than she was, she decided to start her own company.

She began with Terrazas & Terrazas Advertising & Public Relations, working with her son, Carlos, and handling clients that included Harlow Gardens, The Kaibab Shop, Arizona Trust, Tucson Hilton Inn, Devon Gables and Tucson public libraries.

During this time, she became the first person in Tucson accredited by the Public Relations Society of America.

Terrazas received an offer to become the vice president of public relations for Wettstein/Bolchalk Advertising & Public Relations, so she closed her own business. After building the successful office at Wettstein/Bolchalk, she decided to go out on her own again, this time with her husband, George M. Dyer.

The new company, called Terrazas & Dyer Public Relations & Advertising, handled several clients, but most notably Del Webb’s Sun City Tucson.

Terrazas later co-authored a book, “Marketing Secrets for Small-Volume Builders” with J. Dennis Wilkins.

Always quick to laugh, she loved being a faithful performer for the annual Tucson Gridiron Show, which poked fun at local news and politics.

In the 1970s, Terrazas had an office in the Redondo Towers. The air conditioner had been malfunctioning for some time. Terrazas eventually rallied fellow business people in the Redondo Towers to come to work the following day in their bathing suits, as a protest. She handled the publicity, and it was covered on the front page of the Star.

Terrazas was asked to move her office soon after.

An arbiter of fashion, Terrazas was well-known for her elegant clothing and signature hats.

Terrazas had a tender heart and always provided a home for the many creatures her children brought home. In fact, she had a knack for making everyone feel at home.

Her three children remember one Christmas Eve when they packed up the car with a little decorated Christmas tree, loads of presents and food.

The family quietly drove up to a house, turned off the car lights, put everything on the front patio, rang the doorbell and ran. Earlier that day, Terrazas had discovered a cleaning person in her office building did not have enough money to celebrate Christmas or provide gifts for her children.

Terrazas is survived by husband, George M. Dyer; sister, Dora Albert; children, Carlos, Ana Luisa, and Alejandro (Jane Conklin); and three grandchildren.

Please consider making a donation to the HOPE Animal Shelter, in Terrazas’ name, at P.O. Box 1996, Cortaro Farms, Arizona 85652 or hopeanimalshelter.net.