Thelma Ruth Benton Mathis

Thelma Ruth Benton Mathis 99 of Lakeland passed away Tuesday, April 24, 2012 from natural causes at the Valencia Hills Care Center in Lakeland. Thelma was born on November 22, 1912 in Coffee County, Alabama. She moved with her family to Bartow in the 1920s. Thelma married Daniel Monroe Mathis on April 12, 1930. She was preceded in death by her husband Daniel Monroe Mathis and a daughter Dolores Bedley. She is survived by her daughter Betty Gene Mathis Perry of Winston-Salem, N.C., and son Jerry Z. Mathis and wife Jeannie of Lakeland, and by her brothers Harold Benton and wife Laurie of Bartow and Harry Eugene Benton and wife Virginia of Lakeland, as well as numerous grand, great-grand and great-great-grandchildren. A visitation will be held on Saturday, April 28th from 10-11am at Whidden-McLean Funeral Home in Bartow with a graveside service to follow at Wildwood Cemetery at 11am.