M. Thelma Kenyon

M. Thelma Kenyon, 94, passed away peacefully at the Scallop Shell Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Peace Dale, RI on April 3, 2016. Thelma, as she was known, was the daughter of the late Elsie (Smith) and Archibald B. Kenyon, and sister of Archibald B. Kenyon, Jr. of Wakefield, RI. She worked for over 40 years at the University of Rhode Island, ultimately serving as the Assistant Dean of the College of Human Science and Services. A true daughter of Rhode Island, Thelma lived her first seven decades in Usquepaugh, RI, steps away from the Kenyon Grist Mill owned for years by her grandfather and then father, where corn meal for Johnny Cakes was ground. She graduated from South Kingstown High School and URI, where she was a member of the sorority Chi Omega. Since the early 1990s, she has lived at the Polo Club Condominiums in Narragansett, RI. Within a week of graduating from URI, Thelma began work for the College of Home Economics. In 2002, Thelma was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for her years of support of students, faculty and administrators in the College of Home Economics and the College of Human Science and Services. In 2013, Thelma was inducted into the URI Lifetime Service Society. Thelma was a devoted aunt and great-aunt to her niece and nephews Susan Kenyon and her late husband Rick Abrams, Stephen Kenyon and his wife Laura, Michael Kenyon and his partner Tom Stockton, John Kenyon and his wife Renee, and great-nephews and nieces Archie Abrams, Caitlin Euler and her husband Richard, Kelly Kenyon and her fiancé Matt LeValley, Stan Abrams, Sydney Abrams, Taylor Kenyon, and Shane Kenyon. As they grew up, Thelma took her niece and nephews on vacations to Montreal, Cape Cod and northern New England and attended countless Little League games and other sporting events. After losing her leg to cancer in the early 1990s, Thelma took justifiable pride in living independently. She spoke to others who had lost limbs, exercised in pools, traveled to Long Boat Key, FL for vacations, and never missed family events. She was devoted to the Red Sox, the Celtics, and Larry Bird. In her 70s and 80s, she drove to Lexington, MA every Halloween, becoming a fixture in her niece’s neighborhood as she answered the door in costume to 200 trick-or-treaters. In her final months and even days at Scallop Shell, she attended exercise classes. Thelma leaves behind good friends from Usquepaugh, URI, the Polo Club, Seaplace in Florida, and Scallop Shell. She was a communicant of Christ the King Church. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Thursday, April 7 at 11 a.m. in Christ the King Church, 180 Old North Road, Kingston. Visiting hours will be held on Thursday, 9-10 a.m. at Avery-Storti Funeral Home, 88 Columbia Street, Wakefield. Burial will be in New Fernwood Cemetery, Kingston. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may go to the URI Foundation (fund for the College of Human Science and Services), PO Box 1700, Kingston, RI 02881.