Union: Services for Ms. Thelma Opal Nicholson Gardner McDonald will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2023, at Beulah Baptist Church, with burial in the Church Cemetery. Bro. John Gardner will officiate. Visitation will be held from 10:00-11:00 a.m. before services on Saturday at Beulah Baptist Church.

Born Thelma Opal Nicholson on January 1, 1919, she resided in the Beulah Community and attended the local Beulah School. After school consolidation, she graduated from Beulah Hubbard High School in 1936. She traveled to San Diego, California, where she earned her degree in cosmetology. Thelma soon returned to Mississippi. In addition to her life/role as a homemaker, she was a cosmetologist, garment factory worker, bookkeeper, and cub scout den mother. In 1973 Thelma became a Licensed Practical Nurse and worked many years at Laird Hospital in Union, Mississippi. After J.O. Gardner's death, Thelma married T.C. McDonald. She spent her retirement years in Newton, Mississippi, and in camping clubs across the South. She has resided in Bulverde, Texas, for twenty-four years, where she passed away peacefully with family at her side at 104 years, seven months, and four days old.

She loved to cook and spent many years feeding revival preachers and song leaders in her home. Cooking was also a big part of her camping club years. She enjoyed music and enjoyed many hours playing organ with her dear friend Jeff Hardy. In Texas, she was the pianist at the 281 RV Park Church, serving well into her nineties. She was the oldest volunteer at The Threads of Love, a non-profit organization dedicated to producing and distributing clothing and care items to premature babies (living and deceased) serviced by local San Antonio hospitals, crisis pregnancy care centers, and Any Baby Can. In her closing years, she grew even closer to her family, praying for them more earnestly. As a cook, pianist, and prayer warrior, she served others.

Survivors:

1 Daughter: Janeth Rebecca Mobley (Darrell)

1 Son: John Olen Gardner (Lawanda)

4 Grandchildren:  Tina Ann Mobley Miller (Bill), Dr. Teresa Annette Mobley Sellers (Steven), Dr. Kimberley Sha' Rickard (Jeff), and Jason Olen Gardner.

3 Step Grandchildren: Robert Duane Miller, Alecia Crowell, and Alison Crowell Dean (Terry).

8 Great-Grandchildren: Stephen Darrell Miller, Taylor Scott Sellers, Allison Rebecca Nail Schilhab (Luke), Jacob Aaron Rowzee (Nikki), Matthew S. Nail (Emily), Brianna Rae Sellers, Jasmine Gardner Peay (John Austin III), and Nathanial Isaac Rowzee.

5 Great-Great-Grandchildren: Everett S., Atticus J., and Sakari R. Nail; Oliver G. Sellers; Kennedy B. Schilhab.

1 Brother-in-Law: Henry F. Boswell, Jr.

Miss Thelma was preceded in death by parents: John S. (Billie) Nicholson and Mary Loretta Smith Nicholson; her husbands, J.O. Gardner (1970) and Judge T. Cedric McDonald (1994); one granddaughter, Janeth Kay Mobley Nail; one great-granddaughter, Kelly Ann Miller Lee; one granddaughter-in-law, Priscilla Sellers; one great-great-grandson, Cal McCoy Schilhab; and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Pallbearers: Stephen Miller, Jacob Rowzee, Nathan Rowzee, Matthew Nail, Luke Schilhab, and Jeff Rickard

In lieu of flower, the family request contributions to the Beulah Baptist Church Bereavement Fund or the Mississippi Nurse Honor Guard.