Mary's Memoirs

I was helped by Billie Howard, who was head of the Shelton Mason County Historical Museum at the time. The original diary is there with the typed version that was done by Irene Davis in the 1990s.

Irene's little typewriter is at the library too. Mary wrote in her diary for nearly 20 years and then Irene typed up a transcript of all 20 years in the 1990s, and then I came along and digitized it, and the Shelton-Mason County Journal printed it. I'm sure if Mary was alive, she would not have imagined that 70-plus years later her diary would be shared with other people and printed in a local weekly newspaper.

Mary started the first Girl Scout troop in Belfair. After Mary's death, Sam would allow them to camp on their property. Mary belonged to the still existing garden club. She loved to grow flowers and often entered them in the fairs and won ribbons.

Dorothy Harper also helped me with my research. She belonged to Mary's Girl Scout troop and had her book showing the badges she earned.

Dorothy was the first pharmacist in Belfair. She attended the University of Washington and shared with me that tuition at the UW was $35 a semester. Wow!

Irene Davis and Dorothy Harper have both passed.

Don and Paulette Cady had a luncheon and invited several people who knew the Thelers so I could ask questions. Don made the best chicken salad ever! Don has also passed. The pictures are of Mary in her Girl Scout uniform leaving her back porch and the other two are of the Girl Scouts on a field trip to Seattle to the locks.

■ Clydene Hostetler was a longtime Belfair resident and historian. She now resides on a classic wooden boat on the Columbia River. She has been researching Mary Theler's life for the past 20 years. She can be emailed at [email protected]