A to Z April Challenge: T is for Thelma

“We need to get together more often and not at a funeral.” How many times have you and a cousin said that? Funerals are much like a family reunion. You can learn a lot about a family just by looking at who showed up. Using my grandparents’ guest books and sympathy cards, I’ll be exploring “Who came to the funeral?”

is for Thelma Loretta Davis Fultz Helmick. She was one of the Davis cousins (technically first cousins once removed) who attended my grandfather’s funeral in October 1963.

Thelma was the fourth daughter born to Granddaddy’s first cousin Benjamin and Fleeta Berry Davis; eventually there were four more girls and a boy.

   

Back: Sarah Elizabeth, Ruby, Thelma
Front: Edith, Anna

When Thelma was born, the family was in Martinsburg, West Virginia. But by 1920 the family had returned to Virginia and were living first in Shenandoah and later in nearby Elkton. Her father Benjamin worked as a car repairman for the steam railroad.

In 1934, Thelma married Howard Newton Foltz/Fultz. They had four children.

When Thelma attended Granddaddy’s funeral, she herself had been a widow for two years. But she found love again and married Elmer Helmick in 1964. 

Thelma retired from the Genesco-L Grief Company in 1978. Until I Googled, I thought she worked for some kind of bereavement organization. However, it turns out Genesco-L Grief is a clothing manufacturer. Perry Ellis is one of its labels. It’s interesting to Google “Genesco-L Grief” just to see all the obituaries pop up about people who retired from there.

Thelma died in 1999. She is buried alongside her first husband in Augusta Memorial Park in Waynesboro, Virginia.

from Findagrave.com
photo courtesy Marlin Diehl

I am no toady who would try to thwart the throngs in their tenacious trek through the terrain called the A to Z April Challenge.

© 2015, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.