This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Calhoun, Thomas, Weidmann
Classification: Obituary
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/QNH.2ACEB/1066
Message Board Post:
Vena Lynn (Calhoun) Thomas went to her Lord and Savior on January 15, 2003. Vena was born
in Chandler, AZ on May 20th, 1924 to john D. & Bertha Calhoun. A life-long resident
of Arizona, she was raised in Phoenix, attended and graduated from Cartwright &
Phoenix Union High School, as well as Phoenix College. On July 25th, 1944, she and
kenneth Thomas, her high-school sweetheart, were married in Norfolk, VA. After the war,
they settled in Chandler and had three sons Gary, Keith, & Rick. When the children
were in school themselves, she enrolled at ASU and acquired a degree in elementary
education. She was a kindergarten-primary specialist, as it was called then, and taught
only first grade and kindergarten throughout her career. She was employed by the Chandler
Unified School District for 27 years. Vena was always interested in music and drama and
during her high school and college days participated in both. After retiring she was able
to visit many of the places she !
had studied and read about. She and Kenneth (she never called him Ken) attended operas
and plays in New York, London, dublin, Budapest and even Taiwan. She was an excellent
traveler but was always glad to return to her home in Chandler. Vena was an outstanding
mother, sister, and grandmother and an exceptional, irreplaceable wife. Besiders her
husband and sons, she is survived by her daughters in law claudia, Shirley, and Lita. She
also has two brothers John D. Calhoun Jr. and Robert Calhoun and a sister Fay Wiedmann, as
well as six grandchildren. Memorial services will be held Mondya, January 20th, 1:00 pm
at Greenwood Memory Lawn, 179 N. 27th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ. Interment to be at the same
location. In lieu of flowers the family suggests a donation to be made to the
Children's Action Alliance, Chandler Education Fund, or the American Heart
Association. (The Arizona Republic, Sunday, January 19, 2003)