Teddi Ann Bannister was born on May 2, 1959, in Kalamazoo and passed away on February 21, 2026, in Battle Creek. She made her home in Union City, where she built a life centered on faith, family, and an open door.

To know Teddi was to know love in its purest form. She believed deeply in Jesus and in the healing power of prayer. She believed in miracles. She believed in the Holy Spirit and was never shy about her faith. Those beliefs were rooted in her childhood, shaped in part by her Grandma Polly, who was always quoting Scripture and reminding her that they were God’s people. That foundation carried Teddi through her life and into the hearts of her children.

She loved her mother and her sisters and held tightly to those bonds. Family closeness mattered to her, and she created that same sense of connection in her own home. Teddi was a mother to seven children, and each one felt fully and fiercely loved. Her children often say they all believed they were her favorite. That was simply who she was. Her love was so personal and so intentional that it felt singular.

She is survived by her children Robert Welch, Summer Flynn, Samantha Doston, Betty Bannister, Martha Morey, and Emily Bannister, as well as her stepchildren Donnie Bannister, Lisa Bannister, and Heidi Vallier. She is also survived by her sister Collette Crabtree.

She was preceded in death by her parents Tilmon Crabtree and RuthAnn Jackson, her stepfather John Jackson, her sisters Colleen Drew and Paula Crabtree, and her daughter Sarah Bannister (Wagner).

Teddi’s home was never just for her own children. Cousins stayed often. Friends found shelter there. There was always room at the table and always room in her heart. When it came to her grandchildren, she would say without hesitation that she loved them even more than her own children, and she meant it with a smile and a sparkle in her eye.

She loved gardening and flowers and took pride in knowing the name of every bloom she saw, just like her mother before her. That knowledge and appreciation for beauty is something she passed down. She was kind to everyone. She did not hold grudges. She valued forgiveness, empathy, and peace. It pained her when her children did not get along because unity meant everything to her.

Teddi also had a fondness for teddy bears and collected them over the years, a small reflection of her gentle and sentimental heart.

Even in her final days, she was still being a mother. From her hospital bed she gave her children one last piece of advice: take care of your bodies. She made them write it down.

Teddi loved Pepsi. She loved flowers. She loved her family with a depth that cannot be measured. Above all, she loved Jesus. Her legacy is love, forgiveness, kindness, empathy, and faith. She is missed deeply, yet those who knew her carry forward the best parts of her every day.