Thelma Jean (Trushell) DeWire

Thelma Jean Trushell DeWire, age 84, of Navarre died peacefully at 4:30 a.m. Monday, November 22, 2021 in Country Lawn Nursing Home, Navarre, Ohio.

She was born on September 18, 1937 at home in Scio; a daughter of the late Daniel Martin Trushell and Anna Rosalie Grace Trushell.

Thelma was a 1955 graduate of Scio High School and was active in band playing the clarinet and drums. After graduation she worked at the Scio Pottery where she absolutely loved her job. She loved sharing the pottery museum with her children. Then in 1969 she became a licensed practical nurse. She started her career as a nurse at Sunnyslope Nursing Home in Bowerston and then worked a few years for Royal Host Nursing Home in Carrollton. She was then the Director of Nursing for Royal Plantation Nursing Home in Bowerston and retired from Hennis Care Center in Dover in 1999.

Her autobiography was published in Who’s Who Among American Women in the 1970s. She belonged to the Zanesville American Legion Auxiliary and was a sixty-nine-year member of the Mt. Hope Grange #1667. Thelma was volunteer gatekeeper for Stumptown Steam Threshers Reunion near New Athens for numerous years. She loved to play the accordion and she played and sang with the Sunshine Group who traveled and ministered to various churches and nursing homes, sang with the family group called “Family Ties”, and played and sang with her children at a variety of places. She was an avid ink pen collector and loved to play Bingo and visit Casinos.

Thelma was a lover of animals and fed anything that came to her porch which included racoon, skunk, deer, cats, rabbits, and a few possums. She had a witty prankster personality and loved to make people laugh, She had a servant-heart and would do anything for anyone or help anyone who needed help.

Her husband, Robert Roy DeWire, died August 13, 2003.

Surviving are four children: Linette J. (Larry) McGowan of Navarre, Cathy (Dave) Kurucz of Senecaville, Linford (Susan) Slutz II of Williamsburg, Indiana, and Mary Ann Slutz of Zanesville; four grandchildren: Stephen (Laquita), Rebekah, Rachel (Dan), and Philip (Katie); four great-grandchildren: Noah, Grace, Kelsey and Gabby; two great-great-granddaughters: Maisey and Olivia; and three sisters, Elsie Chambers of Strasburg, Sylvia Albright of Conotton, and Freeda (Kenneth) Shultz of Canton; two brothers, Dan (Hazel) Trushell of Bowerston and Paul (Martha) Trushell of Scio; and a brother-in-law, Vic Slutz of Indiana.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by two infant sons, Michael Allen and Glen; four sisters: Mildred Kraus, Marie Case, Sara Case, and Mary Ann Riggs; her former husbands: William Johns, Denver McConnell, and the father of her children, Linford Slutz.

Visitation will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Sunday, November 28, 2021 in Koch Funeral Home, 244 N Walnut Street, Gnadenhutten with a service officiated by Reverend Fred Battles beginning at 8:00 p.m. Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, November 29, 2021 in Fort Laurens Cemetery, Bolivar.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Tuscarawas County Humane Society and the Zanesville American Legion Auxiliary.

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