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 s
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In March, events and set staging business Stagekings was working on a custom set piece for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, building the Ninja Warrior set, and putting giant cricket balls into position ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Then, gatherings of over 500 people were banned, and within a couple of days, almost every job the business had lined up was cancelled.
“We lost $4 million of work in a heartbeat, with nothing left,” say founders Jeremy and Tabitha Fleming.
But, the pair dusted themselves off and, seeing a gap in the market, made a rather unlikely pivot. They started designing and making desks for thousands of hastily-put-together home offices.