Thelma Strange

Klipsan Beach resident Thelma M. Strange, 86, died April 3, 2008 in Portland. The daughter of Henry and Martha (Wirkkala) Kemppi, she was born Mat 23, 1921 in Deep River, Washington. As a young girl she overcame polio, attended local schools and graduated from Naselle High School in 1939. In the fall of 1939 she entered the nursing program at St. Mary's Hospital in Astoria, graduating in 1943. For 15 months during World War II she served as a surgical nurse in the United States Army Nurse Corps, stationed at Baxter General Hospital in Spokane and Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Returning to the local area Thelma worked in doctors' offices in Ilwaco and at Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco. During the Vietnam Conflict she nursed at Madigan Hospital at Fort Lewis until retirement called and she returned to the local area again. Thelma was proud of her Finnish heritage and made a pilgrimage to Finland. Her green thumb enhanced her gardening skills for both flowers and vegetables and she enjoyed reading, needlepoint work, looking after her dogs and cats, and many lifelong friendships. Her family will remember her as a kind and loving wife and mother whose advise was both thoughtful and valued. She met Robert Strange at a dance and they were married in 1968 at Bellingham, Washington. He survives residing in Klipsan Beach. Also surviving are sons Bud Strange and Jim Strange both of Naselle, Dennis Strange of Deep River; daughter Gail Lewis of Puyallup, WA; brother Reino Kemppi of Portland; numerous nieces, nephews and other members of her extended family. She was preceded in death by sisters Viola "Betsy" and Frances. Funeral service will be Monday, April 14, 2008, 1:00 PM at Penttila's Chapel by The Sea in Long Beach with a reception following at the chapel. Concluding graveside service follows at Peaceful Hill Cemetery, Naselle.