Thelma Maxine Wilson

Send Flowers

Cemetery
Springlake Cemetery
Phillips Road 222
Lexa, AR  
Thelma Maxine Wilson

of North Little Rock, AR

November 19, 1924 - February 21, 2020

With a midwife in attendance, Thelma Maxine Brown Wilson was born on November 19, 1924, to Charles and Odessa Gaydon Brown on a cotton farm between West Helena and Lexa, Arkansas. She went to be with the Lord on February 21, 2020.

Thelma worked hard in the fields as a child and carried water to the workers who were chopping cotton. As she got older, she also chopped cotton. When she was about 15 years old, her dad died. Things were hard for her family after her father's death. Her family attended Spring Lake Baptist Church in Lexa, Arkansas and her family is buried at that cemetery, where Thelma will also be buried.

Soon after her mother remarried, Thelma went to live with her grandmother, Estella Kemp, in Little Rock, where she worked as a maid and caregiver for the Warfield family, and she shared her skills with Thelma.

Thelma attended SA Jones High School and graduated in 1942, after which she got a job with Frankie's Cafeteria in downtown Little Rock, and enjoyed meeting new people. Thelma was a hard worked and liked by all.

Thelma became reacquainted with Raymond F Wilson when he came into Frankie's Cafeteria, where she was working. They had known each other growing up in West Helena. They were married shortly afterwards. Then, Raymond joined the Army.

After the war ended and Raymond came home, he went to work for the railroad and they moved to Saint Louis to live. During this time, life became difficult, as Raymond was suffering from wartime memories. Thelma was working as a substitute at several eating places. When she went into the kitchen in most of the places, she would help the cooks and workers reorganize the kitchen to make their work easier and quicker. She was called on often to come and help, due to her great skills.

She came back to Arkansas to begin her long career of being a caregiver. Sometimes she worked as a maid and a caregiver for the children or as a caregiver for someone who was very ill. Thelma had a special way of getting each of her patients to trust her and love her. She always gave them a choice of whatever the were planning to do. She would say, "Do you want this or that?" "Do you want to eat or read a book?" "Would you like to sleep or may I paint your finger nails?" Thelma knew that people still wanted to have some say in their life, even if they could not make many decisions for themselves.

She was a great cook and knew all of the things to do when there was a problem. When she moved into a new home, as a caregiver, she went right to work cleaning and organizing. She was a wonderful caregiver who was always willing to go the extra mile for her patients when she needed to prevent something from harming them.

She worked for many families whose loved ones had Alzheimer's. Some of these families included: Slattery, Dean, Pearce, Cotton, Faulk and her special friend Mary Lou Jaworski. Thelma had taken care of Mary Lou's mother, her daughter, and later Mary Lou. So, when Thelma found herself between jobs, she would go to live with Mary Lou Jaworski.

Eleven years ago, Thelma discovered she had breast cancer and had to spend time in the hospital. It was decided that she would need to go to a nursing home to recover. Even in the nursing home, she continued to be a caregiver. She spent much of her time encouraging others and reminding them to pray when they needed help. Some of her friends called her "The Preacher Lady". Thelma was a true blessing to so many! She will be greatly missed. Heaven has received a special lady who loved the Lord.

We would like to thank the caring staff at Premier Nursing Home for their support and love for Thelma. Thelma was so appreciative of anything anyone did for her and always said thank you and told people how special they were every time she had a chance.

Sign Guestbook

2 Condolence(s)
Jackie Taylor
SHERWOOD, AR
Liked
Thursday, February 27, 2020

Ms. Wilson was truly a blessing. I, along with the therapy team at Premier, will definitely miss her.

Joann Poe
Little Rock, AR
Liked
Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Ms. Thelma Wilson ,was a beautiful person inside and out. Ms. Thelma I will miss talking to you every morning , your morning compliments.
I will miss my Angel ,you will always be in my heart.