SOLAR, Thelma Louise

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ 04/08/2014 Thelma Louise Solar, 95, died Feb. 23, 2014 in Mesa surrounded by her loving family. She was born Sept. 20, 1918 in Port Leyden, N.Y. to the late Vernon and Nina Grace (Blanchard) Belknap. Thelma graduated from Holland Patent Central School where she played on the girls' basketball team. A beauty school graduate, she owned her own Beauty Shop in Barneveld before marrying the late Richard Lewis Solar of Clayton, N.Y. Sept. 22, 1941. They lived in Sherrill, N.Y. before relocating to Tucson in 1957. She was a member of the former First Congregational Church of Tucson where she was active in the women’s auxiliary. They have been summer residents of Pinetop-Lakeside for over 40 years. Thelma loved bowling, fishing, and University of Arizona basketball. She and her husband belonged to the Catalina Sam’s RV Group and the Pace Arrow Roadrunners. Thelma belonged to the Red Hat Society; as “bingo queen” she played several nights a week with friends in Tucson and the White Mountains. She was a member of the Emblem Club in Show Low and senior center in Lakeside. She is survived by her only child, Kathy (Robin) Tapelt; four grandchildren: Adam (Solana) Tapelt, Nina (Timothy) Quintana, Casey (Jen) Tapelt and Rodd (Liz) Tapelt; nine great-grandchildren: Isabella, Logan, Frankie, Hope and Jace Tapelt, Timmy, Abel, Julian and Angelo Quintana. Also surviving is her sister, Bernice Noyes (age 102), nieces Andrea Noyes and Gay Belknap, brother-in-law Charles (Gert) Solar, and several nieces and nephews on her husband’s side. Services were held in Mesa and a visitation in Tucson. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Thelma’s name can be made to Hospice of the Valley, 1510 E. Flower Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014.