Slusher, Thelmateen Worrell
Mrs. Thelma Slusher, of Charlotte, N.C., passed away on Wednesday, February 25, 2009, at Harris Hospice Unit in Presbyterian Hospital, Charlotte, after several years of declining health. She was 80 years of age. Thelma was born in Christiansburg, Va., on May 3, 1928, to the late Mary Stump Worrell and Joseph Lee Worrell. She was their youngest child of four and their only daughter.
Thelma was predeceased by her brothers, Joseph Lee Worrell Jr., Harry Worrell, and Mabrin A. Worrell (John).
Thelma graduated from Christiansburg High School in 1946. She married James Edwin (Jim) Slusher on September 10, 1948. They moved their young family to Charlotte in January, 1955, where they began to build their lives and raise two sons. Thelma was employed with Delmar Publications, in the paste-up and corrections department for many years.
Thelma and Jim enjoyed many years together, growing large amounts of hardy vegetables in their backyard garden and always sharing them with others, square dancing with The Carolina Swingers club, traveling, or just relaxing at their lake home. Thelma loved working in her flower beds and she used to say just how much she loved the smell of rich soil. She would tell how working in the soil, out in the fresh air, made her feel so close to God. Some of her happiest times were spent tending her beautiful beds of pansies and hosta. Each of her hosta plants had been rooted from a small spring of her own mother’s original plant, from the home in Christiansburg. Her gorgeous African violets brightened many window sills for years, throughout her home.
She was an exceptional seamstress and enjoyed piecing together her own, beautifully detailed, square dance outfits, which would always be passed down to her young granddaughters to play “dress up” with. She also provided the same little girls with many lovely dresses and night-gowns that she sewed together with much move and pride, as well as many dainty, intricate clothes for their Barbie and Cabbage Patch dolls. She was also a wonderful cook and baker, and loved feeding her family and friends many delicious dishes, some of which were her potato soup, chicken salad, cherry pound cake, chocolate layer cake, banana pudding, and ice creams … all home-made. Thelma cared for many ill and confined people, throughout the years, by providing them with good meals she prepared. Thelma was a member of Kilgo United Methodist Church, in Charlotte, where, in years past, she enjoyed serving as a Den Mother for the Cub Scouts, a Sunday School and Bible School teacher, and a member of the choir.
Survivors include her husband of 60 years, James Edwin “Jim” Slusher; two sons, James Edwin “Ed” Slusher Jr. and wife, Debbie, and David Michael “Mike” Slusher and wife, Cathy; four grandchildren, Kim S. Gougeon and husband, Kyle, Amy S. Vaughan, Adam Slusher and wife, Malorie, and Lauren Slusher; four greatgrandchildren, Alec and Abby Gougeon, and Evan and Ethan Vaughan; and several nieces and nephews.
A funeral service will be held 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 28, 2009, at Harry & Bryant Company, 500 Providence Road, Charlotte, N.C., where the family will receive friends an hour prior to the service. Reverend Mike Harris will officiate. Interment will follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
If friends so desire, donations may be made in Thelma’s name to Alzheimer’s Association, Eastern NC Chapter, 400 Oberlin Road, Suite 220, Raleigh, N.C. 27605 or Alzheimer’s Association, Western Carolina Chapter, 3800 Shamrock Dr., Charlotte, N.C. 28215-3220 or Harris Hospice Unit, Presbyterian Hospital, P.O. Box, 33549, Charlotte, N.C. 28233.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28.
“If you think the cherry blossoms are beautiful, you should see what I’m seeing,” Audre L. Tribbe-borrowed from a gift Thelma gave to her grandchildren… a 1988 Guideposts Publication entitled His Mysterious Ways.