Thelma Weaver 

Photo by Cynthia Delaney. Text by Mary Branscomb.

One-hundred-year-old Thelma Weaver waves to the crowd as Grand Marshall of the 2000 Silver State Stampede Parade in Elko, Nev. After living through the hungry years of the Depression, Thelma became an outstanding cook who promoted her idea for a “Cookbook of the Air” to a radio station in LaPorte, Ind.

In the days before TV, Thelma cooked a whole meal for her studio audience. The show lasted 10 years and spawned a cookbook. A voracious reader, Thelma improvised dramatic reviews of the books she read and was paid to perform in nearby towns. She and her husband, Buck, built their own homes, rode horses and kept gardens. When Buck retired, they traveled around the country in a camp trailer. Thelma moved to Lamoille, Nev., to be with her family after Buck’s death. It was the “best place” to her, and she spent her days giving piano recitals, cooking rib-sticking meals of beef and lamb for her family, and being active in her church.  

Mary Branscomb’s mother Thelma died in November, 2001. She gave 101 years of joy to those who knew her.