Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Graveside memorial
services will be held at Grandview Cemetery,
Bonners Ferry, at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 25.
On Saturday, July 26, at 1 p.m. a celebration of
Thelma's life will be hosted at the Lynn and
Toni Manus residence in Otis Orchards,
Washington, for friends and family.Thelma, of Moyie Springs, Idaho, born on July 21, 1921 in Mount Pleasant, Utah, to parents Alexander A. and Pearl Brown.
Moving many times during the Great Depression, the Browns settled in Melba, Idaho, where Thelma met and married Quinton Manus. They were married on August 17, 1940 in Murphy, Idaho. During WWII Quinton worked in Hawaii in cleanup of Pearl Harbor; in the shipyards in Portland, OR; and farming in the Melba area. They moved several times, and once lost all of their belongings in a house fire. Thelma, pregnant with Kevin, saved Kathleen and Lynn from the fire.
In 1949, the family moved to Boundary County, Idaho, living first in the Perkins Lake and Curley Creek areas, where Quinton logged and worked for Boundary County, and Charyl was born. In 1951, the family moved to Bonners Ferry, where Quinton worked for Meeker's Machine Shop, and Michael was born. Quinton and Thelma started a new pulpwood business, and in 1955 the family moved to Moyie Springs, where Quinton built and operated a sawmill and increased the size of the pulpwood business. Thelma remained a mother and homemaker, while helping with the business bookwork for many years.
In 1971, Thelma and Quinton divorced. Thelma later met George Hill, and they married on December 14, 1974 in Pullman. They lived in various places for the next several years, with George passing in Vancouver, WA on May 13, 1981. Thelma returned to Moyie Springs, where she lived until moving to the Boundary County Community Restorium and later to the Boundary Community Hospital, Extended Care Nursing Home where she lived until her death.
Much of Thelma's later years were spent reading and researching for a book she was writing. Although she never finished writing the book, she read hundreds of books in the preparation.
Thelma is survived by daughter Kathleen English and her husband Ken of Moyie Springs, Idaho; son Lynn Manus and his wife Antonia of Otis Orchards, Washington; daughter Charyl Mesenbrink of Pocatello, Idaho; son Michael Manus and his wife Kim of Newport, Washington; a sister Sandra Wilson and her husband Glenn of Keizer, Oregon; a brother Jay Dean Brown and his wife Omera of Melba, Idaho; sisters-in-law Betty Brown of Melba, Idaho, and Ellen Raye Brown of Sandy, Utah; brother-in-law Jim Vrooman of Wasilla, Alaska; and their respective families. She leaves 15 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, 7 great-great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
She is predeceased by husbands Quinton Manus and George Hill; a son, Kevin Manus; twin great-grandsons Brady and Carter Manus; siblings Donald A. Brown, Dorothy Brown, Elden H. Brown, Beth R. Vrooman, Mervin R. Brown, Lois A. Brown, and Wayne A. Brown; and sons-in-law Joseph Mesenbrink and Thomas Bertling.
A Memorial Fund for Thelma has been established with the Friends of the Restorium Inc., P.O. Box 1362, Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.
The family expresses many thanks to the caretakers at the Boundary County Community Restorium and Boundary Community Hospital, Extended Care Nursing Home where Thelma received exceptional care the last years of her life.