(May 2, 2009) - Thelma Lee Watson Minion was born in York, S.C. on Feb. 8, 1932, to James Elzaphus and Bertha I Watson. After a lengthy illness, she departed this life on March 28 at Sinai Hospital.
Her early childhood was spent in Clover, S.C. In April of 1939 the family moved to Baltimore. Thelma and her sister Mary Helen joined Enon Baptist Church and were baptized. They attended Sunday school and the Baptist Young Peoples Union. Later they joined Trinity A.M.E. Church where Thelma sang on the choir and joined the Youth Missionary Society. Thelma was active in the Baltimore NAACP, serving as president in the early 1940s. She graduated from Douglass High School in the top 10 percent of her class. She attended Morgan College (now Morgan State University) for two years, then sought employment with the Social Security Administration. She rose to the rank of section chief. Thelma went on to retire as a grade 13.
She married Frank Minion in 1952 in Baltimore. She was ecstatic when she became pregnant with Devron, and from his early years she provided experiences that helped him develop an appreciation for the finer things.
Thelma’s personal life included a career in journalism, serving on the staff of the Amsterdam Herald in New York, the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper and other journalistic work in Washington, D.C. Her social life intertwined with celebrities such as Sammy Davis Jr., Eartha Kitt and minister and politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and a host of friends and family all over the country. The highlight of her life was seeing Devron in productions in various sites.
Thelma leaves to mourn: her son, Devron Minion of Los Angeles, Calif.; devoted friend and companion, Edward A. Parkins; longtime friends, Vickie Gibson, Millie Ross and Glora White; sisters, Thelma R. Baylor and Dr. Mary McKnight-Taylor; nephews, Stephen and Clifton McKnight and his family; niece, Michelle B. Caldwell; grandnieces and a host of extended family and friends.