Thelma Lee Adams

Thelma Lee (Burdick) Adams was born June 4, 1929 in Hominy, OK.

Thelma was the youngest of nine children born to James Carr Burdick and Mary Helen (LaValley) Burdick.

James Burdick (we’re told) was one of the original Yankee base players and from Pennsylvania. However, his career ended when a train accident badly injured one of his legs and he could no longer play ball.  He next went to engineering school, received a degree, and went to work for Sinclair Oil Company. The company transferred him to Drumright, OK where he met and married Mary Helen LaValley.

Mary Helen LaValley was born in Arkansas. Her mother Annie was a Shawnee Indian and her Father, Ruben LaValley was Cherokee/French. She was one of four children born of this union.

Ruben left his family and Annie moved her four children to a Indian Reservation in Oklahoma.

It was in Oklahoma, then that Mary married James Carr Burdick. From this union twelve children were born of which nine lived to adulthood. One of those children was Thelma.

In October of 1929, Thelma’s father passed away leaving her mother with 9 children to raise. Thelma was 4 months old at the time. After several years she married Luther Whipple, who later also died of a heart attack, again leaving her alone with the children to raise. She never remarried. Mary Helen (Burdick) Whipple went to be with her Lord and Savior, February 1973.

Thelma married in 1946 at Independence, KS to Leroy Moore and that union 2 sons were born. Howard L. Moore of Collinsville, OK and Ronald J. Moore of Owasso, OK.

After finally settling in the Tulsa, OK area, Thelma worked for the dry cleaning industry for several years. Later she worked for Zebco Fishing Reel Manufacturing.

When her children married, she decided to move to Redding California. There she married Thomas P. Adams and became a step-mother to his three children. Don Adams, Jerry Adams (both deceased) and Linda Jones of Arizona.

Thelma and Tom later moved to Enid, OK and lived there until his death in 2005. She then moved to Collinsville, OK to be near her family and resided there until her death.

She is survived by her 2 sons, 5 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and 9 great-great grandchildren.

She was a loving and devoted mother and wife and will be sorely missed by all.

Quote: from Helen Keller

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.”

Visitation will be 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Friday, April 23, 2021 at the Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home. The family will be present from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

Funeral services will be 10:30 am, Saturday, April 24, 2021 at the Skiatook Church of God with Sister Linda Vance and Bro. Aaron Phillips officiating.

Services are under the direction of Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home.