[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4256]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING THELMA SAYLER

 Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I wish to honor the life of Thelma 
Sayler.
  Thelma Sayler was born in Lynch, NE, on September 3, 1924, to Mads 
and Ruth (Christensen) Nelson. In 1927, she moved with her parents and 
younger sister, Donna Faye, in a Model T with the company of 24 
chickens, to a one-room ``shack'' north of White River. Ten years later 
her father tore down an old house and hauled the lumber in the Model T, 
using it to build a new house for the family. They moved into their new 
house just 1 day before Christmas, where Thelma had her own bedroom, 
which was a mansion to her.
  Since there were no boys, the girls helped with farming, ranching, 
and chores around the house. Thelma liked to remember how she, her 
sister and mother, during the dirty thirties, used aprons to shoo away 
the Mormon crickets to save their garden.
  Thelma graduated from White River High School in 1942. After high 
school, she traveled with her Aunt and Uncle to Oregon to work in the 
shipyards during the war. When traveling, she sat in the back of a 
pickup on a chair. In 1949, Thelma, and her daughters Karen and Sharon, 
moved back to White River. A couple years later they moved north to the 
``Old Rassy Place.''
  In 1953, Thelma accepted a teaching job at the Cottonwood School that 
was about 2 miles from their home. In 1954, she taught in Jones County. 
When she started teaching, she worked without certification for a 
number of years. She eventually started taking classes during the 
summer through Black Hills State Teacher College, and earned her 
bachelor's degree in 1969. In 1971, Thelma and her family moved 10 
miles north of White River to the ``Teddy Fredericks Place,'' where she 
then began teaching second grade in Murdo.
  She taught in Murdo until retiring in 1987. Even after retirement, 
Thelma continued her passion to educate, which included volunteering at 
the school, substitute teaching, and even providing snacks for students 
and staff. Thelma was a lifelong member of the Cottonwood Ladies Aide 
and volunteered at the Mellette County Museum & Library, blood drives, 
and the Grand Stand Committee. She was also a long-time member of the 
United Methodist Church in Murdo.
  Thelma Sayler passed away at the age of 89 on February 9, 2014, at 
her daughter's house in White River. She will be forever remembered for 
her love of teaching and for all that she has done for her community.
  I was among Thelma Sayler's many students. She was a teacher in the 
truest and best sense of the word, and I am forever grateful for her 
investment in me. She was patient and kind but tough when needed--and 
most importantly, she was passionate about seeing kids learn and truly 
committed to her work. Like so many others who passed through her 
classroom, I was blessed to have her as a teacher and later in life to 
call her a friend.

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