Thelma Kay Bennett-Pelton, born November 26, 1943, in Hugo, Oklahoma, was the oldest child of Lester C.D. Bennett and Julia Ermine Deffeyes. At that time, the country had been pulled into the fighting of WWII two years earlier, the Oklahoma Dust Bowl continued, and rationing was right around the corner for the whole country due to the war effort. That was the year the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument were dedicated, women were first actively recruited to the workforce, and the life expectancy for the average American female was 68.2 years. Known for her obstinacy, Thelma made it to 68.3 years! Her younger brother Charles was born a couple of years later. To hear Thelma tell it, she and Charles were constantly getting into trouble. I