Thelma Pedersen

Thelma Leong Pedersen, formerly known as Thelma Oh Hai Leong of Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii passed away on August 11, 2012 from complications of kidney and heart ailments at age 92. The 3rd of nine children, she is preceded in death by her parents and six of her siblings. She survived husbands Stephen B. Tang (1966) of Honolulu HI, Richard V. Koler (1983) of Palo Alto, CA, and Robert A. Pedersen (1994) of Mountain View, CA. Mom was known as “Mom” by everyone who knew her. Mom’s trademark smile would light up a whole room when she was present. Mom became an accomplished seamstress at her Mother's knee when she was growing up. She engaged in seamstress work at the start of hostilities in Hawaii working for the U.S. Army. She remained a civilian employee of the Army until 1959 when she moved with her five children to Palo Alto, CA. Employed for a very short time by the U.S. Navy Construction Office at Sunnyvale, CA when her organizational skills and work ethics attracted the attention of the fledgling Hewlett Packard computer company from which she retired in 1983. Mom proved to be an astute real estate and stock investor over the years and acquired a usable knowledge in Income Tax regulations which she used to help seniors and others in preparing income tax returns. She never lost her passion for sewing and as recently as 2010 was hemming trousers, making quilts, and working embroidery sewing projects. Designing and overseeing the construction of a new home, Mom moved to Kitsap County from Mountain View CA on Memorial Day weekend, 1992. During the ensuing two years before the death of Robert A. Pedersen, she was an active bowler and enjoyed traveling around California, Washington, and Hawaii. Mom is survived by five children, Marvin R. Tang, Clifford B. Tang, Priscilla G. (Ronald) Davenport, Sandra Tang Allison, and Linda E. (Rene) LaMarche. She is the proud grandmother of eleven grand children: Cindan Lee Tang and Robert Neathery (Lara) of California; Eric Tang (Stacie) and Elise Smith-Tang of Hawaii; Audra Sanchez, Renee Balsz (David), Maile Heckel (Brian), Stephen Neathery Michael Tang of Washington: Kathy Miller (Dwayne) of Canada; and Eric Muraskas of Illinois. Mom’s twelve great grandchildren reside in: Hawaii: Shayne Sodatani, Erica, Emily, and Spencer Tang; California: Cole Neathery; Washington: Joseph and Connor Heckel, Kaitlyn and Tyler Barnes, Hunter Balsz; Illinois: Lena and Ashley Muraskas. A Celebration of life will be held at Rill Chapel, Port Orchard, WA at 2:00 PM on August 16, 2012. She will be interred beside her late husband, Richard Vernon Koler, in Palo Alto, CA.  Donations may be made to the Salvation Army or your favorite charity.