Thelma Grace Walker

is honored with a Brick from her sons, Ronald and Donald Walker

Thelma Walker was a stalwart of The Greatest Generation. She came of age in the difficult years of the Great Depression. She experienced the stresses of World War II on the home front, with her husband and other family members and friends serving in the military overseas. She established a loving home and raised a family in the uncertain yet hopeful post-war years. And she joined the legions of women who chose to pursue careers in midlife. Like millions of her contemporaries, she both reflected and contributed to the growth of America as a vibrant society.

Thelma Grace Richert was born on July 2nd, 1922, in a farmhouse near the town of Omega in western Oklahoma. Her father was Philip Alton Richert (1882-1967), born and raised in Iowa. Phil's family had emigrated to America in 1881 from Alsace-Lorraine, a region on the Rhine River long contested by France and Germany. Thelma's mother was May Annie Lawver (1892-1980), a devout woman of the "Pennsylvania Dutch" Mennonite-Brethren sect. May was born in Hesston, Kansas, and raised from infancy on a farm near Omega.

Phil and May Richert had five children. The oldest was a son, Earl, born in 1914. The rest were daughters born over the next decade -- Ruth in 1916, Bess in 1919, Thelma in 1922, and Eva in 1925. Thelma survived them all.

The Richert farm was a rented quarter-section (160 acres) about 100 miles east of what would come to be known as the Dust Bowl. Farming in the drought conditions of the 1920s and 30s was challenging, but the Richert family was close-knit and happy.

When Thelma was nine years old, one of the family's horses kicked her in the forehead and put her into a coma. She spent several days in the hospital, and took nearly a year to recover before she could return to school.

During her convalescence, she lived for several months with an aunt and uncle in the nearby town of Geary, Dr. Edd Milligan and his wife Eva, May's younger sister. Besides taking care of Thelma, the Milligans were financially supportive of the Richert family during the hard times of the Great Depression.

Thelma loved school and was a good student, and consistently made honor roll. She was popular, and was elected president of her ninth-grade class at Omega High School. When her family moved to another farm close to Geary, when she was 16, she became a drum majorette with the Geary High School marching band.

Thelma married her high school sweetheart, Cloye Walker, soon after they graduated in 1941. Their first son, Ronald Ray, was born the following year.

World War II had started by then, and the family moved to Wichita where Cloye was employed in an aircraft parts factory. But by 1944, the need for men in the Army meant that he would be drafted. He was wounded in action in Germany, and returned home in January 1946, several months after the war's end. Thelma and Cloye's second son, Donald Glenn, was born later that year.

The family initially lived in the Planeview neighborhood of Wichita. In 1953 they moved a few miles north to what would be Thelma's home for the next 60 years.

The family became active members of Bethany United Methodist Church, where Thelma sang in the choir and taught a Sunday School class. They made many friends at Bethany, including the family of Wesley and Lucille Ford, whose daughter Sue would become Ron's wife in 1961.

Thelma joined the workforce in 1954 with a clerical job at the Wichita Eagle newspaper. She worked there for 15 years. After that, she was employed for 17 years at Wichita State University as a secretary in several academic departments, including Journalism and Sociology/Gerontology. She was also a part-time student at WSU for several years.

In 1977, after 36 years of marriage, Thelma was widowed with Cloye's death of a heart attack. After Cloye's passing, she continued working at WSU until her retirement in 1991.

In retirement, Thelma stayed busy. She gardened. She enjoyed many happy family get-togethers. She loved her succession of three playful Malteses. And she cultivated many friends, including a "ladies-who-lunch bunch" who met often at favorite restaurants.

In 2010, Thelma was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. Under the care of Dr. Michael Cannon at the Kansas Cancer Center in Wichita, she spent nearly a year undergoing treatment regimens of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. She came through all of them bravely and enjoyed good health for several years after.

In 2013, Thelma moved to an assisted living facility, Asbury Park in Newton. She was at first resistant to having to leave her home and neighborhood, but she made the adjustment and came to appreciate the convenience and amenities and the highly professional staff of Asbury Park. She enjoyed socializing and made friends. She ate heartily. She loved watching The Lawrence Welk Show and Dancing With the Stars. She was a keen fan of K-State and WSU basketball, and caught every game she could on TV.

Thelma's passing on Aug. 24th, 2020, at the age of 98 left a sad void for all those who knew and loved her. Surviving family members are son Ronald and his wife Sue, son Donald and his wife Arlyn, grandchildren Jeff and Traci Walker, Jeff's family -- his wife Stephanie and daughters Katherine and Christina -- and numerous nieces and nephews. Thelma's family and friends were at the heart of the enthusiasm she felt for life, and she is greatly missed.

Proudly submitted by Ronald and Donald Walker

March 3, 2022