Thelma Irene Steward

Thelma attended grade school near Chicora, PA and graduated from Karns City High School in 1951.

In November 1951, she married Donald G. Dunlap. They lived in Chicora until 1965, and had three children: Terry, Glenn, and Kevin, .

In 1965 they moved to Southern California where Thelma and Don managed apartments until 1971 when they moved to Shingle Springs, CA to manage Crazy Horse Campground.

After her divorce in 1975, Thelma married Alan Steward in 1978 and they worked together to create his business, Video Marquee. Once the business was established Thelma began to pursue sculpting, which she had been fascinated by since her mother took her to a museum as a child. Thelma sculpted for years and won many awards for her dolls.

Thelma was a faithful Christian who loved her church, her family and her friends. Always one for an adventure, she took her grandchildren to New York, Washington D.C., Israel, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Alaska and Hawaii. She also fostered a love of creativity and the arts in her grandchildren, partly through taking them to performances such as The Nutcracker and to see musicians like Itzhak Perlman.

Thelma loved parties, pizza and ice cream and was not above making up a holiday as an excuse to invite friends and family over. Every summer, until his death, she and Alan hosted a camp for their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s friends. They also hosted a summer music camp for grandkids and other families from Thelma’s church.

For the last three years Thelma lived at Ponte Palmero in the Lighthouse where she herself was a light and a joy to staff and residents alike, with smiles and kind words for everyone she met.

Family and friends surrounded Thelma to see her off as her savior brought her into eternity, healed her body and cured her dementia on January 25, 2024.

Thelma was preceded in death by Don Dunlap and Alan Steward and her son Kevin Dunlap.

She is survived by her daughter Terry Gossner of Placerville, CA; son Glenn Dunlap, of Machias, ME; and stepson Sid Steward of McKinney, TX; 11 grandchildren, and 9 great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at: Grace Reformed Baptist Church, 1386 Carson Road, Placerville on Saturday February 10th at 2:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the GoFundMe account for Charlotte Faith Syres at:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/heart-transplant-for-baby-charlotte