Thelma Fraley Mead

Our family and community lost a wonderful human being on March 22, 2025.

Thelma Fraley Mead just three weeks shy of 102, was born on April 13, 1923 in Ashland, Oregon, and lived for 68 years in Santa Barbara. She grew up in Alameda, California, attended Pasadena College for two years, and graduated from UC Berkeley. For several years thereafter she taught school in Vallejo, Los Gatos, Los Banos, and one year in Eugene, Oregon, where she and her husband, Walter, began their lives together in 1947.

As Walter developed his career as a professor of Economics, she was the daily guidance counselor and superb mother to five children: Richard (Non), Donald (Patty), Douglas (Kathy), Kay (Jim), and David (Natalie), providing loving moral guidance with an irrepressibly upbeat attitude. Her family ultimately expanded to include 13 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren, and each and every one adored her. She and Walter enjoyed trips to exotic places and also hosted many family trips over the years, exposing us all to different environments and cultures.

As a voracious reader and a member of a book club, she expanded her mind daily. She developed an aura of quiet wisdom and had a profound inner strength which served her well throughout her long life. She often said that looking forward to something every day was the key to an engaged life and optimistic outlook. No doubt, this contributed to her long, wonderful presence on earth.

“Always be kind to each other,” was advice she offered to family members who gathered for her 100th birthday. Speaking from no notes, she captivated her family with this advice, pleasant memories, and an optimistic view of life and the future. Slightly more than a year ago at a “cousin’s reunion”, where “Aunt Thelma” was invited as the sole remaining sibling in the original Fraley family, she sat in front of that large gathering and spoke for 45 minutes about the Fraley and Mead families and of life in general.  She answered questions and spoke eloquently without notes or preparation.

All those who knew her appreciated her kind and generous nature. She never sought the limelight, center stage, or acknowledgement. She acted with purpose, not pomp, and had a no-nonsense approach to the world. Simple pleasures, like sitting in the sun on her patio surrounded by her flowers, gazing up at the mountains, filled her with joy.

She was one of a kind and we are so blessed to have felt her presence, guidance, and inspiration for so many years.

The Mead family.