Teresa Sprague

Teresa Sprague, 65, of Oblong, IL, passed away on Tuesday, April 15, 2026, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Evansville, IN.

She was born on April 4, 1961, in Oblong, to Gerald Wayne "Red" & Carolyn (Littlejohn) Goodwin. She grew up right there in Oblong and never saw much reason to leave. From an early age, she had a heart for animals and a flair for the dramatic, the kind of little girl who dressed the family cats in doll clothes, loaded them into a stroller, and paraded them around the yard like it was perfectly normal. That tenderness and that boldness would follow her the rest of her life.

By fourteen, she was already working, waitressing and cooking for Tom Cook at The Cottage restaurant in Oblong. It was the beginning of a lifelong love affair with food, with people, and with the beautiful intersection of the two. She graduated from Oblong High School with the Class of 1979, married Rod Carter soon after, and welcomed her son, Michael. She married Mike Sprague in 1983, and their daughter, Mindy, completed her family not long after.

Teresa wore a lot of hats over the years, and she wore many of them all at once. She worked as a CNA in OB for a season. She served as an in-home caregiver, including caring for her own father until the day he passed. She opened a tanning salon. She ran concession stands at the Crawford County Fair. She bought The Highway Cafe in the nineties and ran it for a couple of years. She waitressed at numerous food establishments across the area (probably more than anyone could count). And when her granddaughter Kelsey needed raising, Teresa didn't hesitate.

But the work she may be best remembered for is the daycare she ran out of her home for 24 years. Teresa's Daycare Center shaped a whole lot of Crawford County kids. For nearly a quarter century, her home was the place where children were fed and looked after and loved on, and if you grew up in this part of the world during those years, there's a decent chance Teresa Sprague had a hand in it. She ended her working years at Mildred's in Oblong, still doing what she had always done best: feeding people and making them feel at home.

And could she ever cook! Everything from scratch, everything with love. Her goulash, her noodles, her persimmon pudding and cookies, her meatloaf. She always had a pitcher of sun tea waiting at the house, and if you were lucky enough to catch her on the right day, you might get her taco boats or catfish sandwiches, two dishes she was rightly famous for. Anytime there was a family gathering, it centered around her food. Hot dogs, potatoes, and homemade ice cream. Her kitchen was where she did her finest work, not just because the food was remarkable (and it was), but also because it was how she told you she loved you.

But Teresa didn't just love you at the dinner table. She loved you from the stands, too. At every ballgame, every school event, every moment that mattered, Teresa was there, and you knew it. Her voice carried across gymnasiums and ball fields and parking lots. She screamed, she cheered, she embarrassed her kids and grandkids in the best possible way. She was not afraid to let the whole county know she was proud of you.

That was just Teresa. She had an energy that never quit, and she poured it into everything and everyone around her. She ran like a candle burning at both ends, and it made her perpetually, unapologetically late. Her family learned early on that if you wanted Teresa there by noon, you told her ten o'clock and hoped for the best. But when she did finally show up, she showed up all the way.

Showing up looked a lot of different ways for Teresa. Sometimes it meant making herself available to anyone in the community who needed a hand or a hot meal. Sometimes it meant chasing down JoJo, her boxer from years back, who had a legendary gift for escape, or loving on BroBro. And sometimes it just meant getting her hands in the dirt, planting sunflowers, marigolds, and roses in the yard. Come to think of it, Teresa spent her whole life planting seeds. Some of them grew into sunflowers. Most of them grew into people who knew what it felt like to be fed, cheered for, and loved without condition. And that kind of harvest doesn't end with a life. It just keeps growing.

She is survived by her children, Michael Carter and Mindy & Raymond Richards; by her grandchildren, Kelsey & Brandon, Brandy Jo, Brezlynn, Maylee, Natalie, Eli, and Carter; by two great-grandchildren, Keenan and Asher; by her siblings, Angela "Susie" & Joe Cooper and Jerry & Dustan Goodwin; and by her nieces Jennifer & Tim Kamplain, Amber & Mike Zakowski, and their families.

Teresa was preceded in death by her parents.

A time of visitation will be held from 3:00-5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21st, at the Goodwine Funeral Home in Robinson. A memorial service will immediately follow at 5:00 p.m., with Pastor Phil Boyd officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to her memorial fund, with checks made payable to "Goodwine Funeral Homes." Memorials may also be made online at https://www.goodwinefuneralhomes.com/payments.

Burial will be in the Kirk Cemetery at a later date.