By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Two months shy of her 100th birthday, Thelma Wires, of Tontogany, fell and broke her hip. But being very strong-willed – some might say stubborn – Thelma vowed she would walk into her church for the service planned in honor of her reaching the century mark.
On Sunday, she did just that.
Neighbors Gary and Kim Santogrossi weren’t a bit surprised.
“She’s a spunky lady,” Kim Santogrossi whispered down the pew, with Gary adding that even at her advanced age, Thelma is known to walk down to his big garden to get vegetables.
In honor of her birthday, Thelma’s family and friends packed the pews at the small Tontogany Calvary Church. The crowd surpassed her hope of 100 people in attendance, with the official count at 129.
Thelma graced everyone within arms reach with a hug, and often a wink. To her admirers in the back pews, she waved and clapped at their arrival.
At her request, Pastor Mike Kelley’s church service revolved around Noah and his ark – with Thelma gleefully singing along with every hymn. Tontogany Mayor Matt Shanahan and State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari read off proclamations in her honor.
After the service, Thelma shouted “I’ll see you all at the legion hall,” where the “church ladies” were preparing a lunch in her honor. But first, the centenarian walked to the church entry so she could thank each person in attendance as they left.
No one was shy about sharing stories about Thelma – who seems to be a woman of some contradictions. Some described her as generous and frugal. She is not a woman who tolerates differences of opinion. “She has no filter,” one person said.
But she has a big heart, and big expectations of people.
In the legion hall kitchen, “church ladies” Barb Shank and Carol Ash were helping to prepare the lunch of ham sandwiches, baked beans, relish trays and birthday cake. It was work that Thelma had done for years herself as a church member.
“She is strong,” Shank said. “She’ll stand up for her rights.”
Also helping with the luncheon was Les Vogelsong, who as head trustee at the church, has gotten to know Thelma quite well. Since Thelma lives right across the street from Tontogany Calvary Church, she sees it as her job to report issues that arise.
“She calls me all the time. If kids skateboard on the ramp, or if leaves are covering a grate, she calls,” Vogelsong said. “Nothing happens at that church that she doesn’t see.”
As a next door neighbor, Thelma feels a responsibility to the church that has been a big part in her life. For years she taught Bible school, sang in the choir, and raised her family in the congregation. And for as long as she has lived across the street, the stained glass Jesus in the church’s front window has been looking at her home.
“She loves that,” said Associate Pastor Bridgett Clark.
Clark finds comfort when she looks out into the congregation and sees Thelma.
“She’s like a ray of sunshine,” Clark said. “Sometimes I get stage fright and I look out there and she’s sitting there, beaming.”
Fellow church member Marsha Broadright said Thelma’s love of her church is based on decades of dedication.
“She was here when our church had a dirt basement,” Broadright said.
“She is very determined in everything she does,” Broadright said. “I always get a kick out of her. But don’t contradict her.”
As Thelma walked by with her plate loaded with lunch, Broadright realized her attention was needed elsewhere.
“I have to get her a cup of hot water. She can’t eat her lunch without a cup of hot water,” Broadright said with a smile.
Thelma has also supported her village in other ways during her long life. She has been a long-time member of the Lybarger-Grimm American Legion Post, where she typed the first newsletter ever put out by the organization.
And she always volunteered to help with the Tontogany Festival each year, making her famous chicken noodle soup. Her recipe is still cooked up each year, though the cooks stopped making noodles from scratch about three years ago, said Cindy Hofner.
Though she could be a little rough around the edges, Thelma has a big heart, Hofner said.
“What I admired about Thelma was she raised her great-grandchildren until she was in her 80s,” Hofner said.
Two of her great-grandchildren attended the festivities Sunday, and played bass and guitar in church. Connor Keller, 20, was raised by Thelma until he was in third grade. His sister, Willow Keller, 21, lived with her great-grandma until fifth grade.
“She was 90 when she was taking care of us,” Willow said.
The siblings remembered Thelma as being both strict and caring. She filled parental roles at school, reading to their classrooms and bringing in treats on their birthdays.
“She was stubborn, but she put up with a lot with us,” Connor said.
“She really wanted what was best for us,” Willow said.
Thelma and her late husband, Grover Wires, raised five children themselves. According to the Tontogany mayor, the children were known around town as the “live wires.”
Thelma and Grover met at a dance at Vollmars Park, an amusement park on the Maumee River that closed years ago.
According to Thelma, Grover was immediately smitten. But she was not. “He was not for me.”
“But he kept coming around and I couldn’t keep chasing him away,” she said with a grin.
Grover was postmaster in Tontogany, and Thelma worked in food service at Vollmars Park and Bowling Green State University.
When their first child was born, the couple had wanted a boy, but they got Gloria.
“The nurses said they had been jipped,” said Gloria, who since then has gone by the nickname “Gipper.”
The next child was also a girl, Laurel, who was given the nickname “Jinxed.”
Next in line was Terry, who was affectionately referred to as “the boy” for years. He was followed by one of each – Merri Gay and Lonny Dean.
Gipper described her mom as strong and opinionated. Terry added determined.
“She taught us to treat others as you would want them to treat you,” Terry said.
“And help where you can,” Gipper said.
As Thelma sat in the legion hall, surrounded by family and friends, she reflected on the spectacular celebration in her honor.
“I did it,” she said about recovering from her broken hip. “I was so cocky before. God said slow down. But I didn’t slow down, so he slowed me.”
But he didn’t stop her, and her stubborn nature saved the day.
“I feel fantastic,” Thelma said with a wink.
