Benton Evening News Posted Apr. 7, 2015 at 2:11 PM FUGATE, Thelma Roberson, on March 19, 2015. We are proud to celebrate the life of our mother, Thelma Roberson Fugate. She rose from modest beginnings to build a full, successful life. One of nine children, she was born in a log cabin in 1918 in Franklin County, Illinois, and grew up in Benton, Illinois. She attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale at a time when very few women attended college and worked as a secretary to pay her way through school. After seeing the quality of her work, the SIU president asked her to work in his office. She graduated with honors in 1941 with a BA degree in education and human services. While at SIU, mother met Gerald Fugate. They married in 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor. Their happy marriage lasted 67 years until Dad died in 2009. During World War II, mother moved around the U.S. with him and held a variety of office jobs to support the war effort. After the war, they settled in St. Louis where she was a superb homemaker and raised a happy family. Mother taught us that you should never stop learning. She worked as a substitute teacher, learned to use a computer, studied music and art, and enjoyed singing, playing the violin, and painting in oils. She was a skilled researcher who successfully traced her genealogy to the American Revolution and then to the signing of the Magna Charta in 1215. She was an active member of the Magna Charta Dames and the Webster Groves chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1962 she and Dad joined Ladue Chapel, where she taught Sunday school, volunteered as a deacon, and devoted time to numerous charities. The family appreciates the attentive care given to Mother by the entire staff at the Stewart Health Center in Charlotte, NC, especially Lois Hand, Patricia Johnson, and Seana Robinson. She is survived by her four children (Nancy Fugate Nye and Bob Nye of Charlotte, NC; Warren Fugate and Eileen Kopchik of Pittsburgh, PA; Dennis Fugate of Godfrey, IL; and Alice Fugate and Steve LoGrasso of Chesterfield, MO); five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials may be made in memory of Thelma Fugate to Beverly Farm at 6301 Humbert Road, Godfrey, IL62035, or a charity of the donor's choice. Visitation at 8:30 a.m.; memorial service at 9:30 a.m. Monday, March 30 at Ladue Chapel, 9450 Clayton Road, St. Louis, Missouri63124.

Oh my goodness - Thanks so much, Larry. Thelma was the very *first* person I got a hold of when I researched back and realized I was a WEBB in the early 1990's and thus connected so deeply to Southern Illinois and especially Franklin County. I remember the first time I called her and we talked for over 2 hours. She was a very special PHILLIPS and WEBB cousin, and I always tried to stop at Gerald and her house in St Louis every time I headed to the Benton area. She helped me so much and was the person who pointed me to contact Sheila Cadwalader thereafter. Once I had the connections, we always had fun with the fact she was a cousin to herself at least 5 different ways :-) Thelma Sadie ROBERSON was born 28 Sep 1918 at Benton and married Gerald Miller FUGATE 29 May 1941 in Beardstown, Cass Co., IL. Gerald was born 23 Jan 1916 Rinard, Wayne Co., IL and passed away 27 Feb 2009 St Louis, MO. After Gerald passed away she moved to the Nancy's house - I thought she stayed in that area; obit does not say where she passed away. She was d/o Rev. Ernest ROBERSON and Susannah PHILLIPS Ernest s/o Demetrius "Met" ROBERSON and Anna Medora "Dora" WEBB "Met" s/o Levi Yancey ROBERSON and Margaret Ann "Peggy" TAYLOR. Dora d/o Samuel Silas WEBB and Julia Ann WEBB. Susannah d/o Peter "Little Peter" PHILLIPS Jr. and Ala SUTTON Peter s/o Benjamin Franklin PHILLIPS and Susannah WILFONG. Ala d/o Lewis R SUTTON and Charlotte L COOK She will be missed greatly, SRJ (I do see obit from Charlotte: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/charlotte/obituary.aspx?n=thelma-fugate <http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/charlotte/obituary.aspx?n=thelma-fugate&pi d=174511099> &pid=174511099 ) From: Larry Lance [mailto:llance516@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 9:12 AM To: ilfrankl@rootsweb.com Cc: llance516@gmail.com; 'Sheldon Jones' Subject: Thelma Roberson Fugate Obit Benton Evening News Posted Apr. 7, 2015 at 2:11 PM FUGATE, Thelma Roberson, on March 19, 2015. We are proud to celebrate the life of our mother, Thelma Roberson Fugate. She rose from modest beginnings to build a full, successful life. One of nine children, she was born in a log cabin in 1918 in Franklin County, Illinois, and grew up in Benton, Illinois. She attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale at a time when very few women attended college and worked as a secretary to pay her way through school. After seeing the quality of her work, the SIU president asked her to work in his office. She graduated with honors in 1941 with a BA degree in education and human services. While at SIU, mother met Gerald Fugate. They married in 1941, six months before Pearl Harbor. Their happy marriage lasted 67 years until Dad died in 2009. During World War II, mother moved around the U.S. with him and held a variety of office jobs to support the war effort. After the war, they settled in St. Louis where she was a superb homemaker and raised a happy family. Mother taught us that you should never stop learning. She worked as a substitute teacher, learned to use a computer, studied music and art, and enjoyed singing, playing the violin, and painting in oils. She was a skilled researcher who successfully traced her genealogy to the American Revolution and then to the signing of the Magna Charta in 1215. She was an active member of the Magna Charta Dames and the Webster Groves chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1962 she and Dad joined Ladue Chapel, where she taught Sunday school, volunteered as a deacon, and devoted time to numerous charities. The family appreciates the attentive care given to Mother by the entire staff at the Stewart Health Center in Charlotte, NC, especially Lois Hand, Patricia Johnson, and Seana Robinson. She is survived by her four children (Nancy Fugate Nye and Bob Nye of Charlotte, NC; Warren Fugate and Eileen Kopchik of Pittsburgh, PA; Dennis Fugate of Godfrey, IL; and Alice Fugate and Steve LoGrasso of Chesterfield, MO); five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials may be made in memory of Thelma Fugate to Beverly Farm at 6301 Humbert Road, Godfrey, IL62035, or a charity of the donor's choice. Visitation at 8:30 a.m.; memorial service at 9:30 a.m. Monday, March 30 at Ladue Chapel, 9450 Clayton Road, St. Louis, Missouri63124.