Submitted by

Ken Gates

Thelma Pendergraft Chamberlain
March 25, 1914 - September 30, 2006

Thelma Pendergraft Chamberlain

     In the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept.30, 2006 Thelma Chamberlain went to be with her Lord. Funeral services for Mrs. Chamberlain were held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 2, 2006.at the Blue Ridge Baptist Church located on FM 1771 in Blue Ridge. Rev. James Houser officiated.

     Thelma was born on March 25, 1914 in Highbank to Pearl Stafford and Lewis C. Pendergraft, the oldest daughter of eight children. She lived most of her life in Falls County and attended the Blue Ridge Baptist Church since 1929. In 1937 Thelma was married to H.C. “Hub” Chamberlain.

     Thelma's life was filled with people she loved and those with whom she worked. She often said, “I would not change one minute of my life-even the hard times. I believe the bad times made me a stronger and better person who can enjoy the good times more.”

     In 1951 Thelma was employed by the Marlin Independent School District as Supervisor, Food Services and Bus Driver. She often noted that the two positions amounted to a full time job and gave her transportation as well. She loved children and treasured the letters, calls and visits she received from students and teachers that she knew during those years. She retired in 1963. She could have written a book about the people she knew and loved.

    Thelma loved to travel. In earlier years she traveled to Hawaii and more recently she flew to Florida and New Mexico. She always wanted to go to Nashville to see the Grand Ole Opry but she “wanted to wait until the weather gets better.

     Thelma was a marvelous storyteller with a keen memory and an uncanny recall of events, details, and family history. She remembered incidents from as early as the age of 3. No one visited Thelma without being entertained and blessed by her character, straightforwardness, and love.

     Until a year ago, Thelma lived in her and was never afraid of being alone. “God takes care of me,” she would say and “I have a gun! If boogers come or animals bother, I shoot them.” Once she told about a ‘shadow' that got close to her car one night; the next morning when she went out she found that the animal had run off but the paint job on her car peppered with buckshot, was never the same. Thelma loved animals and thrived on giving her dog and cat her special TLC.

     Mrs. Chamberlain experienced many changes in conveniences over the years from outdoor “facilities” to inside laundry, and she enjoyed the comforts that each new invention afforded her. She enjoyed her newspapers and television to get the news. But her greatest source of pleasure each day were her animals and the wild birds that performed outside her window-dozens of birds were fed every day. The amazing number and species of birds she fed and enjoyed was exceeded only by the number of days that they visited her.

     Thelma was the oldest member of the Blue Ridge Baptist Church. Her final request was that all she owned be sold and the proceeds be given to her church.

     Thelma was preceded in death by her parents, husband, three brothers and two sisters. She is survived by Douglas Henry, son, of Sherman; Dorothy Pendergraft, foster daughter, of San Antonio; Roy C. Pendergraft, brother (Carlyene), San Antonio; Wade C. Vinson, brother, Houston; Lu Ouida V. Phillips, sister, Waco; Aletha Southwell, sister, Austin; four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews and a host of friends.

     Memorials may be made to Blue Ridge Baptist Church or the Blue Ridge Cemetery at FM 1771.