Obituary of Thelma Gurley

Thelma Jean Gurley, loved teaching kids Thelma Jean Collett Gurley's love of teaching was based on a simple principle. "She believed every child could learn," said a daughter, Jacqueline Marie Murray of Tipp City, Ohio. "She really liked to take on the challenges of children who seemed to be having difficulties. She loved to bring out their potential." Mrs. Gurley, who died Thursday at 69, taught for the Kenton County Public Schools for 31 years. Born in Cincinnati, she grew up in Visalia and graduated from Simon Kenton High School, where she was on the debate team. She studied teaching for a few years at Georgetown College but returned home after her father died, to help her family. Then Kenton County started hiring teachers without a full degree, and she started teaching in 1957 at Piner Elementary, riding the school bus from her home in Walton. In 1959, she married Jack W. Gurley, and quit teaching when she had the first of their two children. Gurley knew when he first laid eyes on her that he wanted to marry her, and she felt the same way, he said. They dated for only about a year before they were married. When her younger child entered kindergarten in 1967, Mrs. Gurley returned to teaching. She taught for 18 years at Taylor Mill Elementary, but also taught at White's Tower Elementary in Independence. Her last posting was at Woodland Middle School, where she served as the dean of girls and the eighth grade English and drama teacher. When she returned to teaching, she also went back to college at night, earning a bachelor's degree from Thomas More College and a master's from Northern Kentucky University. After she retired in the mid 1990s, she became more involved in the Community Pentecostal Church in Independence, where she was a member for 26 years. "She was totally devoted to her faith in the Lord," Murray said. "That was evident all her life." In retirement, she also traveled to Ohio nearly every weekend to watch her grandchildren play soccer, basketball or football. "She totally devoted herself to her family," her daughter said. And she never stopped learning, which she loved. She read continually, mostly historical novels, her daughter said. Survivors other than her husband and daughter include a son, Jeffrey W. Gurley of Independence; two sisters, Jowinna Roberts of Park Hills and Ada Bush of Independence; and three grandsons. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Community Pentecostal Church in Independence. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at the church. Burial will be in Floral Hills Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Living Word Church, 926 E. National Road, Vandalia, Ohio, 45377, or the Community Pentecostal Church, 11875 Taylor Mill Road, Independence, Ky., 41051.