Thelma Lerner

Thelma Winnona Lerner, age 99, beloved mom, grandma, great & great-great grandma to many, passed away peacefully in her home in Oklahoma City on Monday, June 8, 2026, with family by her side.

She was born Thelma Winnona Eddy on January 21, 1927 in Fort Morgan, Colorado to Clifton Benjamin & Velda Marie (Hartwell) Eddy.

She was placed in a children's home in Denver along with her younger brother, Clayton "Bud" Eddy and younger sister, Aretha "Jean" Eddy during the Great Depression and was fostered out alone at the age of nine to Marie Neugebauer, a nurse/country doctor/farm owner of Ovid, Colorado.

She worked the farm, attended school, and became an avid member of the 4H club in her younger years. After graduating from Ovid High School, she attended college at Colorado A&M, now known as Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

She reconnected with her siblings in her teenage years after a very lengthy search and maintained that connection until they were parted by death. Throughout her adult life, she never gave up on family and love, marrying 5 times. Even though these marriages didn’t last and she never got her happily ever after, she was a fierce single mother to 3 amazing children. Raising Virgil Perky Ridenhour, Randy Ray Ridenhour, and Brenda Lee (Lerner) Horn, when single motherhood was not easy, working 2-3 jobs to get by. She worked many jobs in her lifetime, including: switchboard operator, secretary, bookkeeper, manager of several hotels (three at the same time), and later in life, a grocery store greeter.

Thelma enjoyed being out with friends and dancing the most, holidays with family, occasionally gambling, and all of the dirty-minded jokes.

She saw life through the Great Depression, a foster home, farming, college, work, several wars, 17 presidents, integration, women's rights, single motherhood, and even beat stage 4 cancer. She was a very resilient woman and powered through 36,299 days.

She is preceded in death by her parents, siblings and son, Randy Ray Ridenhour of Midwest City.

She is survived by; her children, Virgil Ridenhour and wife Sandy of Oklahoma City, OK, Brenda (Lerner) Horn and husband Gene of Oklahoma City, OK; grandchildren, Misty (Ridenhour) Day and husband Jeff of Del City, OK, Crystal Horn of Yukon, OK, Ashley (Ridenhour) Thompson and husband Mike of Norman, OK, Nicolle (Horn) Thomas and husband Josh of Yukon, OK, and Randi (Horn) Estrada and husband Luis of Oklahoma City, OK; 14 great grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren.

A memorial ceremony for Thelma will be held on Wednesday, July 1, 2026 at 11:00 am at the Walker Funeral Chapel. 

She will be eternally missed.

Peace out Grams, I love it when you call me Big Poppa.