Thelma O. Eggleston

Thelma O. Eggleston, 91, Devils Lake, formerly of Warwick and Tolna, died on January 18, 2016 underthe care of Altru Hospice at Heartland Care Center. Funeral Services will be held at Warwick Lutheran Church, Warwick, ND on January 23, 2016 at 10:30AM. Reverend John Monson will officiate and burial will be in the Warwick Cemetery at a later date. Thelma was born on March 8, 1924 in Eddy County to Evin and Karen (Christianson) Peterson. She was raised (with her younger sister and best friend Muriel) by her grandparents, Martin and Marie (Thorson)Christianson on the family homestead where they milked cows, raised chickens and grew modest crops. By Thelma’s account, proceeds from the sale of eggs and cream kept them going during the Great Depression and gave them a reason to make Saturday trips to town. Thelma graduated from country school in Hillsdale township and completed three years of high school through the North Dakota Agricultural College’s (now NDSU) Division of Correspondence Study (the first program of its kind in the U.S.) One of Thelma’s biggest regrets in life was that she was unable to complete her high school education. Following her high school studies, Thelma worked as a cook and housekeeper for several Warwick-area families. She also played in a “dance band” with lifelong friend and accordionist extra ordinaire, Irene (Papachek) Carlson, having taught herself to play guitar as a young girl listening to old-time music on the radio and studying the Carter Family Songbook. Thelma and Irene reunited for a performance at a Warwick High School sponsored talent show in the early 1960s. Thelma cursed that performance for decades thereafter since her youngest son Blayne had apparently seen fit to tune her guitar in a special key en route to the event. The performance was almost over by the time she finally got “Blondie” (her ill-tempered Silvertone archtop) back in tune. In November 1950, Thelma was united in marriage to Harvey Eggleston in Great Falls, Montana where they lived for a short time. Thelma and Harvey moved a lot in their early years since Harvey was a heavy equipment operator who worked for many construction companies on a variety of projects . With sons Brian and Blayne, they made Warwick their permanent home beginning in 1963. Harvey was killed in a construction accident in 1976. Beginning in the late 1960s, Thelma worked as a clerk at Johnson’s Store (later D & D Grocery) where she especially enjoyed visiting with the children who would frequent the store after school. She had a knack for getting them to say the “darndest things.” She also served as city auditor for thirty years and devoted hundreds of hours to assuring that literally every penny was always properly accounted for–a task which became much less onerous when the city finally bought her an adding machine. In later life, Thelma spent many hours sewing and quilting, using the skills she learned early in life from her beloved Aunt Olga. Many quilts were created with her friends and neighbors at Warwick Lutheran Church where she was a baptized and confirmed member. Other favorite pastimes included music, crossword puzzles, bingo, playing cards with friends and reading about the “good old days.” When Thelma became unable to live by herself, she moved to the Odd Fellows Home in Devils Lake where she received much care, comfort and compassion from the dedicated staff and companionship from fellow residents (some of whom she had known for decades). Thelma was always fiercely proud of her Norwegian heritage, spoke Norsk as often as she did English and, much to Harvey’s chagrin, loved lutefisk and lefse. Thelma is survived by her son Brian (Cynthia) of Sioux Falls, SD, grandsons Geoffrey of Little Rock, Arkansas and Ian of Brookings, South Dakota, sister Ihlys Peterson of Devils Lake, and brother Dennis(Carole) Peterson of San Bernardino, California. Many nieces, nephews and their families also survive. She was preceded in death by her grandparents; parents; husband, Harvey; son, Blayne; sisters, Muriel Wessels, Donna Schue and Norma Sherve; and brother, Leonard. The family requests that memorials be directed to Warwick Lutheran Church.