Thelma R. Barcus

is honored with a Brick from Stephen Barcus.

1925 - 2002

How fortunate for the four of us children that we were to have had Thelma Barcus for our mother. She was a homemaker who was always there to help and encourage her children .

This is a woman who was always busy volunteering at our grade school, in PTA, as a room mother, helping us with our many 4-H projects, directing a mother's choir, and sewing for all of us. She worked equally as hard volunteering in our church teaching Sunday School and Vacation Bible School, singing in the choir and in the women's organizations. As if this weren't enough to keep her busy, when her oldest child was in 9th grade, Thelma went back to college to finish her education. Four years later she graduated from WSU with honors.

Following graduation, she resumed her career as an elementary school teacher. (Thelma had taught in a one-room schoolhouse before she married.) Along the way, she completed her Masters Degree. Parents of students at OK Elementary soon knew that Thelma Barcus was the first grade teacher to request for their student. She has seen many of her young students grow up into productive members of the Wichita community and elsewhere.

After her children were grown she took up painting, quilting, and crocheting. She is also a fantastic cake decorator. Her children and grandchildren beg for her paintings and quilts. After retiring, you would find her every Friday in McPherson visiting her mother, helping her with her grocery shopping, doctor's appointments, etc. Each new niece and nephew, grand-niece and grand-nephew and great-grandchildren are the lucky owners of a personally crocheted baby blanket.

We'll never forget her admonition to us, "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all." She always practiced this in her daily life.

She is still a very important part of her church taking meals to shut-ins, visiting them, organizing funeral dinners and working as an officer in her woman's organization.

Thelma is an inspiration to her family and all her friends. You can do anything if you work hard enough. We love her so much for giving of herself so freely over these many years and we're so proud to be her children.

September 5, 1998