Thelma McKee

Thelma Mae Wooley Mckee, age 91, of Tridell, passed away September 24, 2015, from old age complications and a recent bout with cancer.
Born in Tridell, UT May 15th 1924, to Arthur A. and Martha Pearl Draper Wooley. Thelma was the youngest of 10 children. Her father, died from a logging accident in the Uintah Mountains when Thelma was just 6 years old, a sadness she carried her whole life. In her last few aged years, she spoke often of her excitement to see her dad and her two children again.
In her late teens, during WWII, Thelma worked at a munitions manufacturing plant in Ogden, Utah. About that time a neighbor and good friend of hers, Eileen Caldwell Mckee, died as a result of an appendicitis operation infection, leaving behind two small children under 2 years of age-Gaylon and Betty. Her efforts to help with Eileen's children resulted in her marrying Eileen's widower husband, Reed Harvey Mckee, who was a close friend and neighbor to the Wooley family.
Thelma not only took on the two small children but went on to have 13 more with Reed, and for the most part only 1 year apart, each. Few can only imagine the hardships of juggling 5 children under the age of 5, plus the hard tasks of a large dairy farm and ranch. She really enjoyed watching baseball, especially the World Series, and she was an avid Utah Jazz fan.
Thelma was always an active LDS Church member, serving a Temple Mission in Chicago and then again as a worker in the new Vernal Temple up until her health slowed her down. She spent the last six years living with her daughter, Edna Mae, in Tridell and then with her youngest son, Shayne, and his family, Roosevelt, Utah. She had a sudden fall in June of this year (2015) which resulted in her being hospitalized; while there the doctors discovered she had a terminal cancer.
Thelma has spent her last few months in the best of care of her two daughters, Rita Labrum and Joleen Cozart in Roy, Utah, where she was fortunate to have so many friends and family come by for visits and hugs. If ever there is one who lived a near perfect life of hard work laced with total respect, dignity and integrity, it was Thelma Mae Wooley Mckee.
She is survived by one brother, Loris Wooley, Lapoint/Vernal (age 95), and 13 of her 15 children from eldest to youngest: Gaylon Reed (Eva Dean) Mckee, Vanderhoof, Canada; Betty (Francis) Bowden, Anthony, TX; LaDawna Gerry Bowden, Vernal; Harold Glen (Donna) Mckee, Maeser; Joseph Arthur (Sandra) Mckee, Roosevelt; Arlo Ray (Ruth Ann) Mckee, Ogden; Edna Mae (David) Wallace, Tridell; Terry Stanley (Cay) Mckee, Victorville, CA; Rita (Larry) Labrum, Heber City; Lennis Grant (Day) Mckee, Salt Lake City; Joleen Mike Cozart, Roy; Rex Newell (JoAnn) Mckee, Tridell; Shayne Troy (Bonnie) Mckee, Roosevelt, and a posterity of 347, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by eight of her ten siblings; two sons-David "Basey"Mckee (deceased at 20 months) and Larry Dean Mckee (deceased at age 52); a daughter-in-law, Marlene Hoopes Mckee; a granddaughter, Joan Wallace; and five great grandchildren. Also, preceding her in passing were her husbands-Reed Harvey Mckee (1997); and then Preston Taylor (2011).
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. at the Tridell LDS Chapel. Viewings will be held at the Hullinger Mortuary on Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. and from 9:30-10:45 a.m. Wednesday at the church.
Burial will be in the Tridell Cemetery.