Thelma Elizabeth Smith passed away peacefully Wednesday, December 13, 2023, in her Bryan home, surrounded by her family. Thelma was born in Tonkawa, Oklahoma on September 19, 1932, to Gladys Loretta (Ward) Fairless and Henry Eugene Fairless. She grew up on a farm just outside of Tonkawa. She met a boy named Olin Dail Smith in church, and they both attended Tonkawa public schools. A few months after Thelma graduated from high school, she and Olin married on September 5, 1950. While Olin worked on his father’s farm, he also began attending college – first at Northern Oklahoma College, and then at Oklahoma State University. Thelma supported him by working at a soda fountain in the local drug store, and later at the OSU Library in Stillwater (where she and Olin lived in married student housing). They also started a family, with Brenda, Brent, and Beth all being born during this period. Olin completed his PhD at the University of Minnesota, with Thelma managing the household, and also serving as his clerk/typist, faithfully typing out every version of his dissertation on a manual typewriter.

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