Eddie Lee Tilden Thurman

1926 - 2017

Thurman, Eddie Lee Tilden,

90, passed away peacefully with her daughter holding her hand on Monday, January 30, 2017, at Sunrise of Sunnyvale, California.

A beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and friend - Eddie Lee will be remembered for her faith in Christ, laughter, singing, and generous, loving heart.

Eddie Lee was born to Charles Edward and Lure Lee Tilden in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 1, 1926. She was a graduate of Shawnee High School, Louisville, and earned her nursing degree at Kentucky Baptist Hospital.

She married Clarence Thurman in 1947, and they had three children: Cheryl Lynn, Charles Douglas, and Marsha Lee. In Waco and Ft. Worth, Texas, and in Louisville, Eddie Lee supported the family as a registered nurse while Clarence studied at Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist and Southern Theological Seminaries. In 1959 she and her husband were appointed missionaries to Malaysia and served in that role for 11 years primarily at First Baptist Church, Petaling Jaya, and at a church they established in Malacca.

When she returned to the U.S., Eddie Lee once again worked as a nurse both in the Student Health Center at Baylor, and in hospitals in Mississippi and Kentucky. Wherever she was, Eddie Lee joyfully used her gifts of healing, music, and hospitality to share the love of Christ as a nurse, pastor/professor's wife, teacher, singer, choir director, hostess, and planner of fun and parties.

Eddie Lee was predeceased by her parents and her sisters Evelyn Weber and Jane Kern and is survived by one sister-in-law, Doris Thurman Lowndes. In addition to her children: Cheryl Sharpley (Dan) of Los Altos, CA; Doug Thurman (Shannon) of Denver, CO; and Marsha Thurman, Boulder, CO; she is survived by grandchildren: Lisa Vanacht (Filip) of Los Altos, CA; Kristen Matthews (Tommy) of Denver, CO; and Chad Thurman of Denver, CO. Eddie Lee is also survived by five great-grandchildren: Charlie and Noelle Vanacht; Amelia, Thomas, and Virginia Matthews; and many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews including: Diana Berry, Claudia Zoll, Debby Mullins, Pam Ellison, David A. Jones, Carol Thurman Bennett, Jill Zoll, Jodie Baker, and Angie Billiter.

The family thanks the caregivers at Sunrise of Sunnyvale for the loving kindness they showed Eddie Lee her last four years. The family also expresses gratitude to her loved friends of the Encouragers Class at Walnut Street Baptist Church, Louisville, for their prayers and constant friendship.

Burial of Eddie Lee's ashes will be at Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California. A family graveside memorial service will be held in the future. Expressions of sympathy may be made in Eddie Lee's name to Doctors Without Borders (PO Box 5023, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5023), Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church/Chancel Choir (728 W. Fremont, Sunnyvale, CA 94087), or a charity of choice.