About Kathy

From 1947 until 2008 when she moved to Cape Cod, Kathleen Teahan lived in Whitman, Massachusetts. She’s the daughter of the late Florence (Mahoney) Keras and Joseph Keras, and the oldest of their eight children. Kathy is a graduate of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School (1965) and Bridgewater State University (1969). She was married to the late Bob Teahan from 1971 until his untimely death in 1997. She is the mother of Anne Teahan-Dunning, Jean, Bob, and John Teahan, and is blessed with five grandchildren.

While working her way through college, one of her summer jobs was as a salad girl at the Toll House Restaurant, Whitman, Massachusetts. In 2017, Kathy published a children’s book, The Cookie Loved ‘Round the World that tells the history of the Toll House chocolate chip cookie created in 1937 by Ruth Wakefield. In this illustrated children’s book, she teaches about hunger in our world and the importance of resilience and following our dreams. Teahan taught at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School and the Gordon Mitchell Middle School in East Bridgewater. Reading and writing have always been her pleasure, and in attempting to instill this pleasure in her eighth grade students, they wrote picture books for third grade partners. Today, she is happy watching her grandchildren develop a love of reading and creative writing. She enjoys creating stories for her grandchildren every Christmas. 

Social justice is a passion for Teahan. She served on the Whitman School Committee for six years. She has volunteered in classrooms, in church and food programs, scholarship committees, and several outreach programs, including Habitat for Humanity. Kathleen Teahan served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1997 until 2007. Throughout her years in the legislature, she worked for justice, quality health care for all focusing on oral health; quality education; equal rights; and the environment. After leaving the legislature, Kathy helped others seeking positions in public office and volunteered with her church to serve those in need and bring about social justice.  

When Teahan moved to Harwich Port in 2008, she started writing a memoir about her ten years in the Massachusetts legislature.  Concerned by the troubling political division and the systemic racism in U.S., Kathy finished her memoir, For the People, Against the Tide, in September 2021.  She believes that if we all do something, no matter how small, we can bring government closer to the dream of Democracy with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness equally available to all. Her goal is to leave a better world for her grandchildren and children throughout the world.