Thelma Josephine Walker

Thelma Josephine walker was a loving and devoted mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. She departed this life and gained her angel wings on Saturday, July 1, 2023. Thelma was 102
Thelma was born on March 7, 1921 to the late Frank and Maude (Lewis) Dunham. Her childhood was spent in Phelps County, mostly in and around Edgar Springs, her father worked on the farms in the area. She was surrounded by eight rambunctious, but adoring brothers and sisters. Thelma attended school up to the 8th grade, then she went to work to help support the family. She went to work at a hotel in Newburg, Missouri, and would go home to see her family on her day off if she could find a ride, her parents didn't own a car so she hitched a ride anyway she could, if she couldn't find a ride it would be weeks before she could see her family.
Thelma was united in marriage to Lloyd Brooks in 1936. This union was blessed with three children. Thelma was mostly a single mother and worked very hard to support the children and herself.
Our mother was our family's greatest gift. We could never love, revere, or value another person more. If you were familiar with her charm, her hilarious sense of humor, her well-timed witty remarks, her beauty, her sense of fashion (long before influencers came around), and her ability to make everyone around her feel comfortable and cared for.
There was nothing that Thelma loved more than a good garage sale, in the many girl trips she would take with her daughter Barb to go see her son Ron in Cabot, Arkansas (usually about a four-hour drive) it would take them 6 or 7 hours due to yard sale signs. She enjoyed getting dressed up and going to lunch with the girls, which included her sister Virginia, who was living in Rolla at that time. Thelma never went anywhere without her hair, makeup, and a very catchy outfit. She was "THE" fashionista of her time, she loved clothes, and always looked nice, she lived to the motto "everyday is a fashion show and the world is your runway".
Thelma was a hard worker, after she retired in St. Louis, she moved back to her beloved Edgar Springs, and went to work for Senior Companions in Rolla. She worked there until she was 96. The Seniors she was companion to were all younger then she was. She was a member of the First Assembly of God Church of Rolla.
Thelma Josephine Walker is survived by her children, Barbara Brooks-Jordan and husband Elva, of Edgar Springs, MO, Renee Warren Newton, of Moscow Mills, MO, and Ron Brooks and wife Lana, of Cabot, AR; brothers, Bill Dunham and wife Rosalie, of Edgar Springs, MO, and Jim Dunham and wife Linda, of Haze, KS; sisters, Virginia Ledbetter, of O'Fallon, MO, and Sue Dunham, of Rolla, MO; 11 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and 18 great great-grandchildren; a host of nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. In addition to her parents, Frank and Maude Dunham, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Glenda Brooks- Warren; sisters, Dorothy Gibbs, and Laura Dunham; brothers, Frankie Dunham, and Kenneth "Tinker" Dunham; grandson, Randy Warren; granddaughter, Linda Brown.
Funeral service for Thelma will be held on Saturday, July 8, 2023 at 1PM at the Rolla Chapel of the James & Gahr Mortuary with Ray Cook officiating. Interment will follow at the Edgar Springs Cemetery. A visitation for family and friends will be held at the Chapel prior to the service from 11AM until service time.