Thelma Strible

A Tribute to Our Mom,
Thelma Marguerite Strible

Thelma Strible was born Thelma Marguerite Clough on March 27, 1921 in Baltimore, MD. She was the first child of Thomas (Tom) and Marguerite Jones Clough. Thelma would later welcome her sisters Evelyn (born September 6, 1922) and Audrey (born January 21, 1939). Thelma’s Dad was a plumber by trade, but also had a passion for farming. The Clough family moved to a small working farm on the outskirts of Baltimore in 1944, when Thelma was 23 years old. Tom continued his plumbing trade after the move, and the entire Clough family helped in managing the farm. Mom’s love of family developed at an early age and grew even more because of key events in her life—the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the hard work of maintaining a family farm.

In the early part of 1941, a chance encounter with Verne Clarke Strible would also change her life. Thelma’s sister Evelyn planned a date with her boyfriend Bill Elliot, and Bill decided to bring two of his friends along to blind date…Verne, and Margaret. Thelma was out when the two couples arrived at the Clough home on Falls Rd. to continue their date with a game of table tennis in the basement. When Thelma returned, she was curious as to who was in the basement with her sister and peeked into the window. The first person she saw would later turn out to be her life partner of over 70 years, her future husband and our Dad: Verne Clarke Strible. Margaret was never seen again.

Verne was immediately smitten with Thelma, and even stated on a future date with her that one day they would be married. From all accounts, Mom did not deem this a proper proposal, and stated to Verne, “Who said I want to marry you?” Fortunately for all of us, this was Mom’s way of saying I will have a say in this marriage. Well, the two young lovebirds would indeed get engaged, and they planned on a March 27, 1942 wedding – which was the birthday for both bride and groom. On December 7, 1941, which President Roosevelt deemed, “A date that will live in infamy,” the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Thelma and Verne moved up their wedding date as the country braced for war, and tied the knot on December 20, 1941.

On November 2, 1942, while living at the home of Verne’s parents, Thelma and Verne welcomed their first child, Saundra (Sandy) Lee Strible. Three months after the birth of Sandy, Dad went to Europe as a member of an Army Anti-Aircraft Battalion to fight in the war. With Dad in Europe, Mom moved to her parents’ farm and raised Sandy with their help, as the war raged on. Sandy’s love of all creatures with feathers (family joke) was established at this time after an unfortunate encounter with a nasty and temperamental rooster. Mom, being so protective of her daughter, was charged with the rooster’s punishment. It is my understanding that chicken was delicious.
After the war, Dad returned home and shortly thereafter began his college studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore under the GI Bill. He graduated in 1948 and accepted a job with the Linde division of Union Carbide in Tonawanda, NY, (a suburb of Buffalo). This would be Dad’s only employer until his retirement in 1983.

On May 24, 1949, a date his younger brothers would later claim as a date that would also live in infamy (LOL), Verne (Skip) Clarke Strible, Jr. was born in Kenmore, NY. Five years later Steven (Steve) Charles Strible was born on March 26, 1954, and five years after that, Jeffrey (Jeff) Blair Strible was born on June 27, 1959. Mom would often make the comment, “ Once I got that boy thing turned on, I couldn’t turn it off .”

Mom and Dad’s new life in Buffalo, NY was exciting, but was also mixed with a little yearning for the families they both left behind in Baltimore. Many trips back and forth from Buffalo and Baltimore ensued for the Strible family over the course of the next three decades. The love Mom and Dad had for their own families in Baltimore was always present, and they instilled and fostered that love of family in their four children. We have always appreciated and marveled at how close we were as a family—a gift many people are not as fortunate to have.

Mom was, without a doubt, an expert at multi-tasking way before the term was coined. As a wife, mother and homemaker, she deftly handled duties of Family CEO, CFO, Hairdresser, Nurse, Chef, Disciplinarian and Seamstress. She was a trained beautician and did haircuts for her children. She was an accomplished seamstress and not only made clothes for us, she extended the life of store bought clothes with her sewing skills. She handled family finances, a task made a little more difficult by her husband, who developed a love of expensive state-of-the art stereo equipment (he often made purchases without a consultation with Mom). He’s lucky his fate was not that of the notorious chicken. Mom made it all work. She loved life and her family. When she was not caring for us, moments that were few and far between, she loved playing bridge, golf and bowling, and entertaining friends in their home.

As the children grew, Mom decided to begin working part-time in marketing research. Dad’s love of hi-tech was passed down to his sons and her extra income made sure that Christmas and birthdays were full of hi-tech presents. We always had what we needed, but Mom (and Dad) wanted us to also have what we wanted. She did not indulge us, but I think Christmas was as much fun for her as it was for her kids. Her life was always about her family.

As their retirement years approached, a new life in Florida was soon to start. Mom and Dad moved to Largo in 1983. Jeff followed in 1984, Sandy in 1992, and Steve in 1994. Skip still lives in Niagara Falls, NY but visits twice a year. Skip has three children and 2 grandchildren that live in the Buffalo area. A move to Florida without his kids is not something he would do—it’s obvious where his love of family came from. Mom kept herself busy in her retirement years as a member of a civic/social club known as Friends and Neighbors. They did arts and crafts work that raised money that was donated to charitable causes. Their home in Largo, Florida was the “base camp” from which many friends and relatives would visit. Sandy and her kids, Keith and Lisa, visited often before she herself moved to Florida with her husband, also named Keith. Skip and his children, Heather, Jamie and Jonathan, also enjoyed visiting Grandma and Grandpa on a regular basis.

Mom and Dad lived in their Largo home until 2002 when they moved to the retirement community known as Freedom Square in Seminole, where Dad still resides today. We are so very thankful that our parents were able to celebrate their 90th birthday on March 27, 2011, and their 70th wedding anniversary on December 20, 2011.

Our Mom was the most loving, nurturing and caring woman we have ever known. The values she instilled in all of us will never die.

She is survived by her beloved husband of 70+ years, Verne C. Strible; daughter Saundra Curry and her husband Keith of Palm Harbor FL; sons Verne, Jr., Niagara Falls NY; Jeff, Seminole FL; and Steve, Largo FL; Sandy’s children Keith Kraska and wife Laurie, Elmira NY, and Lisa Kraska, Depew NY; Verne, Jr’s children, Heather (Strible) Slipko and husband Chris, Buffalo NY; Jaime Strible, Niagara Falls NY; and Jonathan Strible, US Army, currently serving in Germany; great grandchildren Audrey and Elias Slipko, Buffalo NY; sisters-in-law Mary Gibson, Hampstead MD, and Pat Strible, Pismo Beach CA; and many cousins, nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews. She will be dearly missed by all.

Thelma passed away on January 18, 2012 under the wonderful care of Suncoast Hospice House Woodside, Pinellas Park, FL. She was predeceased by her parents and two sisters, daughter-in-law Patricia Wiser Strible, and brothers-in-law Glenn Gibson and Fred Strible.

Memorial Service to be held at Oakhurst United Methodist Church, 13400 Park Blvd., Seminole FL on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 11:30 a.m.

Our mother often said to us,
“We must have done something right, look how our kids turned out.”

Written with a heavy heart and enduring love,
Jeff

(with a little help from Sandy, Skip, Steve, and Verne)

Please feel free to leave your memories and thoughts in her on-line guest book.