Obituary - Thurza Clara (Kenny) Thackeray

Thurza Clara (Kenny) Thackeray, 89, died early Tuesday morning in Billings of complications of old age.

Her funeral service will be 9:30 a.m. Friday, May 22, 2015, at the Havre Assembly of God. Her burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. Memorial contributions in Thurza's honor may be made to, West Park Village Senior Residence Employee Christmas Fund, 2351 Solomon Ave., Billings, MT 59102.

Services and arrangements have been entrusted to Holland & Bonine Funeral Home. You may leave condolences for the family on her memorial page at http://www.hollandbonine.com.

Born June 28, 1925, in Harlem to Edward and Clara (Anderson) Kenny, Thurza grew up in Turner, a homestead town within shouting distance of the Canadian border. She graduated as valedictorian of the Turner High School class of 1943, winning a scholarship to attend Sacred Heart Nursing School in Havre.

Becoming a registered nurse was her life-long dream. She began nursing school in the midst of World War II and joined the Nursing Cadet Corps expecting to become part of the war effort. But she didn't graduate her three-year nursing course until 1946 - after the war had ended.

Instead, she embarked on a 38-year career working in clinics and hospitals in Havre until she retired in 1984 as head nurse in the nursery at Northern Montana Hospital.

During Thurza's long tenure as a nurse, she helped in the care and sometimes the delivery of almost every baby born in Havre. New mothers, new nurses and sometimes even doctors learned the fine points of newborn care under her tutelage. Babies were her life. On June 4, 1949, she married Leonard Thackeray in Havre, and over the years she had five of her own. Leonard and Thurza were married for 57 years when he died in 2006.

In the early years of their marriage, the couple lived on the Thackeray family ranch in the Bear Paw Mountains. After moving to Havre, they were able to build a new house at the edge of Highland Park.

When Thurza retired because of her increasing deafness, she told a local reporter that she intended to help take care of her grandkids. For the next several years she did, spoiling them all in the process. She loved to play epic Monopoly games with her grandsons Kyle and Zach; let Julia help with the dishes, regardless of the mess; and got reluctant Katie off to kindergarten each day, usually just in time for the bell.

She wondered at her grandson Mason's red hair - a throwback to her own Norwegian grandfather. Granddaughter Kimberly, studying to be a social worker, shares her caring nature. Her youngest grandson, Stephen, inherited her love of history.

Thurza lived in Havre until June 2014 when she moved to an assisted living facility in Billings where she could be near her daughters Lorna and Barbara, and her granddaughter, Julia. She became part of an extended family there and came to love all her caregivers.

Survivors include her children: Stephen Thackeray of Havre, Lorna Thackeray (Gary Moore) of Billings, Garnet (Dick) Bergren of Havre, Karen (Jack) Kamla of Colorado Springs and Barbara (Ken) Adelblue of Billings.

Her seven grandchildren are Julia (Dan) Clevidence of Billings, Katie (R.J.) Matter of Lebanon, Tennessee, USAF Capt. Kyle (Amanda) Bergren of Las Vegas, Zach Kamla of Salem, Oregon, Mason and Kimberly Adelblue and Stephen Moore of Billings. Her biggest joy in her her senior years was her great-grandchildren Roland and Bennett Clevidence of Billings and Abby and Ryan Matter of Lebanon.

Also surviving is her elder brother, Don Kenny and her beloved sister-in-law, Louise Kenny.

Preceding her in death were her husband, Leonard; her sisters, Margie Paulson and Viola Evert; and her best friend and neighbor of more than 50 years, Gavis Schafer.