June 30, 2001

Celebrating the Life of Thelma Elaine Smith Deitz

Thelma was born in Allegany, New York on January 12, 1911, approximately half way through the Taft Administration.  She passed away on June 24, 2001 at the age of 90 years, 6 month and 12 days—six months into the term of George W. Bush.  She was alive during the tenure of 12 presidents.  This amounts to 28% of the total U. S. Presidents to date.  The United States constitution is 212 years old.  Thelma was alive 42.5% of the time.

Both her great grandfather and her grandfather fought in the civil War.  Fortunately for her, and for us, her grandfather survived.  Her great grandfather John Smith Sr. was killed at the battle of Hatchers Run outside of Petersburg, VA and is buried at the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.  Her father Benjamin Smith helped build the Panama Canal.

Thelma's birth was less than a decade after the Wright Brother's flight at Kitty Hawk.  She was four years old when the Lusitania was torpedoed off the coast of Ireland - an event which directly impacted the village of East Aurora.  When the United States entered world War I, Thelma was in the first grade.  Graduating from Allegany High School in 1928, schooled in stenographic and secretarial skills, she worked as a legal secretary in Salamanca and later in Franklinville.  While in Franklinville she was introduced to her Sunday school teacher's nephew Llewellyn Deitz.  After a courtship, Thelma and Llewellyn were married on August 4, 1939.  The couple settled in Buffalo and on April 29, 1941 their son John was born.  A second child, Mary, arrived on December 19, 1942.

The Family moved to 285 North Street in East Aurora the first week of December, 1941.  They were literally still settling in when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  Thelma worked as a legal secretary in East Aurora until she retired in the early 1970's.  Llewellyn retired from Allied Chemical in Buffalo after working there for four decades.  Both Thelma and Llewellyn were active in the life of Baker memorial United Methodist Church until their deaths.

It is remarkable to contemplate the long list of major historical events, which occurred in Thelma's lifetime.  She lived through 90% of the 20th Century surviving along with all of us the advent of Y2K and into the start of the 21st Century.

I knew and loved Thelma for thirty-four years.  To me she was and always will be Mother Deitz.  Her kindness, her gentleness, and her sense of humor were always a source of inspiration to me.  Thelma's deep religious faith enabled her to withstand the blow of her daughter's all too premature death, and also the loss of her beloved Llewellyn two years and ten months later.

Thelma was a wife of over 60 years, a mother times two, a grandmother times four, and a great grandmother times two.  It is a tribute to her that three of her four grandchildren were with her at the hospital the last days of her life.

Her family and friends will sorely miss Thelma.  But we can all feel blessed by having known her and loved her for so long.  We can take comfort in the fact that her demise was peaceful, free from pain, and in the presence of her loved ones.

Keith O. Gary
Keith was Thelma's son-in-law