Thelma Jay

1917-2014Mrs. Thelma Lucille Engledow Jay died Sept. 7, 2014.Thelma was born in 1917 in Boone County and graduated from Whitestown High School. She attended beauty school and worked as a hairdresser until she discovered she preferred going to a dance on Saturday night over shampooing and setting hair. She attended Indiana Business College and went to work for the Engledow Landscaping Company (now the Engledow Group) in Indianapolis.She met her husband, Gordon B. Jay, while visiting Hortense Richman, her best friend, at Central Normal College in Danville. For many years Gordon joked that he thought he was marrying an heiress rather than the “poor relation” who worked in the bookkeeping department.Thelma moved to Long Beach, Calif., to be with her husband during World War II, and after the war accompanied him to Panama. Thelma moved her family 23 times in 35 years during her husband’s career at General Motors. She made these moves with a smile and a sense of adventure, teaching her children they were going to meet new friends in exciting new places. She joked that as soon as the wallpaper paste dried, her husband was sure to be transferred. Although she lived in various cities throughout the Midwest, as well as New Zealand, and visited Africa and Asia for extended stays, she remained a Hoosier at heart. She was a gracious hostess and loved to entertain. Once, when asked “What was the most important thing you did to advance your career at General Motors?” Gordon replied, “The best thing I did for my career was marry Thelma.”Thelma loved her family boundlessly, and her greatest care was always their comfort and happiness. She loved music and birds and writing letters to editors. She was an award-winning poet and played the piano and the ukulele. She sang in the Crooked Creek Baptist Church choir in Indianapolis, and had many friends wherever she lived because she knew how to be a friend to others. She corresponded weekly with her sister for 65 years and maintained friendships all over the world with her frequent letters.She was predeceased by her husband; her parents, Carl Engledow and Esther Pearl Essex Engledow; her brother, Carl Jr.; and her sister, Gaynelle Caldwell. She is survived by her children, Geoffrey E. Jay of Wilmington, N.C., Marcy Nell Jay (Robert Bailey) of Carolina Shores, N.C., and Curtis B. Jay (Colleen McGarry) of Marquette, Mich. She also is survived by her beloved grandchildren, Zachary, Caleb and Hannah Jay, all of Marquette. She loved her nephews, Robert and Michael Caldwell, and their wives, Karen and Kandi.Thelma had a keen wit and a wicked sense of humor, which she maintained to the end of her life. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her. Because she often said she wanted her flowers while she could enjoy them, her children suggest memorial donations to the Community Foundation of Boone County, 60 E. Cedar St., Zionsville, IN, 46077.Friends may call at Myers Mortuary,1502 N. Lebanon St., from 10 a.m. to noon Monday, Sept. 15. Graveside services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Monday at Mts. Runn Cemetery, where she will be home, at last.

Thelma Jay

September 11, 2014