Thelma E. Mulder

Thelma Elizabeth Mulder, 83, passed away on January 14, 2009, at the Perry Lutheran Home in Perry, Iowa. She was born on March 29, 1925 to Nova and Hershel Houston in Summerville, MO and moved to Iowa at the age of 12. She graduated from East Greene High School in Grand Junction, Iowa in 1943, and attended Iowa State Teachers College (UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Her early teaching career began at a rural school south of Ogden, Iowa, where she taught until her marriage to Duane Mulder in 1951. She then became a homemaker, stay-at-home mother, and general farm hand. After raising her four children, she resumed her teaching career in the Perry Community School System where she stayed until her retirement in 1985. Her children, Linda (Frank) Russell of Southlake, Texas, William (Teresa) Mulder of Perry, Iowa, Jacalyn (Douglas) McKay of Leawood, Kansas and Ronald Mulder of Perry, Iowa, survive her. Also surviving is a sister, Edna (Dareld) Albright of Des Moines, Iowa. Surviving grandchildren are Kelli Kitchen, Dawn, Heather, Kelly, and Tommy Russell, Seth Mulder, Shawna Balboa, Janelle Chayet, Brandon, Chelsea, and Connor McKay, Zach, Jesse, and Emma Mulder, and great-grandchildren Walter and Lilly Russell, Ashley Bucklew, Makayla Balboa and Kenadi Chayet, Zane and Isabella Mulder, Grace Garrett-Mulder and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, sisters Beulah Bollerman, Marie Rice and Phyllis Peachey, and her loving husbands Duane Mulder, in 1980, and Harold Anderson in 2007. Thelma was an excellent seamstress and created numerous items of clothing for her children over the years. Before being stricken with Parkinson's several years ago, she loved to dance, and met both husbands Duane and Harold at dances. She also loved playing cards with friends and family, and in her later years, could be found occasionally at Prairie Meadows tackling the "slot machines". She spent many happy years exploring the country with her husbands, and traveled on several "girls' trips" to Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Nashville with her daughters, Linda and Jackie, and granddaughters, Kelli and Chelsea. Her favorite times were spent surrounded by her family, and she was well loved by all. We will miss her and she will remain forever in our hearts. A celebration of Thelma's life and family visitation will be held on Friday, January 16, 2009 starting at 9:00 a.m. with the family present from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at Hastings Funeral Home in Perry. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in her name to the Parkinson's Foundation of Iowa Hospice.