Thelma Virginia Durr Waldrop

Thelma Virginia (Durr) Waldrop, aged 94, passed away on November 2, 2025, at Ridgeland Place, Ridgeland, MS. Born on March 7, 1931, in Belzoni, Mississippi. She is preceded in death by her father, Willie Newton Durr, her mother Myrtis Powell Durr, and siblings, Polly Britt McCall, Ella Mae Dexter and Arlene Marler.
Born in Belzoni, MS, Thelma spent her early years with her family working as sharecroppers or farm tenants in the cotton plantations where she learned the value of hard work. According to her own written testimony, she and her family moved frequently between the delta and nearby Lincoln County in Brookhaven. She attended Heucks Retreat High School where she graduated as valedictorian of her class.
Thelma grew up in a religiously devout family of the Pentecostal persuasion with roots in the Church of God in the MS delta and was a member of the Brookhaven Church of God where she and her future husband, William Durwood Waldrop, met. Throughout her life, Thelma was a stalwart church member and follower of Christ. Always active in the local church she was involved as a Sunday School teacher, women's ministry participant, choir member and offered clerical services as a church clerk.
Most of all, Thelma was an always loyal homemaker giving full time attention to the raising of her children and to the support of her husband. "Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." Proverbs 31:28. She was an accomplished seamstress and later in life was employed by Dillard's Department Store in their alterations department. She is survived by her devoted husband of 76 years, William Durwood Waldrop, sons Richard E. Waldrop (Janice), Randall Douglas, Timothy Durr, William Gary and daughter, Jennifer Kaye Lovitt (Patrick), eight grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren, and various nieces and nephews.