DEPRIMA, MARGARET EMMA THURMOND (Strumpfler)
90, of Chestnut Hill, MA, formerly of The Sea Ranch, CA, Los Angeles, CA and Tucson, AZ, died peacefully on January 13, 2012. Born February 18, 1921 in Klopzow, Germany; daughter of Otto and Emma (Bohack) Strumpfler, sister of the late Ursula Gallivan, Edith Holmes, and Helen Haskins Poisson, former wife of the late Robert Emmett Thurmond, Vice President of Cyprus Mines Corp. (d 9.3.1993), loving mother of Megan Smith, M.D. of Petaluma, CA, Kathleen Thurmond, M.D. and her spouse Katharine Bachman of Chestnut Hill, MA, Robin Curammeng and her spouse Bonifacio Curammeng of Maui, HI, and Debbie Jan Kikuchi of Watsonville, CA. Devoted Grandmother of Erica Edmonston, Dana Hemenway, Alexander Thurmond, Robert Wesley Thurmond, Jenna Curammeng, Caitlin Curammeng, Tamiko Kikuchi, and Justin Kikuchi. Proud Great Grandmother of Elizabeth Kay Edmonston, Blake Edmonston and Ricky Thurmond. BA from Denver University, International Relations and Journalism; MA from the University of Arizona, English Literature; studied Romantic Poets at Oxford University; journalist at the Washington Daily News during World War II and then at the San Francisco Chronicle; founded three nonprofit organizations: TOCER (Tucson On Call Employment Reserve) in Tucson, AZ, and Friendships Unlimited and Counseling Without Walls in Los Angeles, CA. In 1987 married Charles Raymond DePrima, Professor of Mathematics at California Institute of Technology (d 11.10.1991). In their retirement they resided at The Sea Ranch, CA. A memorial service will held at the Unitarian Universalist Community Church, 1260 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA on March 31 at 11 AM. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the MGH-Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital Development Office, 165 Cambridge Street, Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114.