Obituary of Thelma Darling

Thelma (Cauldwell) Darling passed with her family at her bedside following a brief illness on January 1, 2014. She was 89 years old. Thelma was born in Boston, the daughter of the late William and Ruth Payne. She grew up in Brighton and was a graduate of Brighton High School. She moved to Burlington in 1955 where she and her husband raised their four children. She also worked as a secretary at ITEK in Lexington. Thelma had a kind and gentle heart, a strong faith and deep devotion to her family and friends. Her thoughtfulness was shared with her neighbors and community. She was a talented knitter and welcomed every newborn she met with handcrafted blankets, sweaters, and hats. Her kindness extended to making items for hospitals, churches, and the local senior center. She lived in the same home for the past 58 years and treasured her longtime neighbors. Thelma was the type of person who easily met and welcomed new friends. She had a strong Catholic faith, enjoyed attending mass, and practiced her faith in the way she lived her life. Thelma was a woman devoted to her family and made being a wife and mother seem effortless. She was blessed to have had 2 adoring husbands, whom she loved. She was a caring, concerned, and protective mother to her three sons and daughter. She supported them in their activities and interests throughout their lives. She welcomed her son-in-law and daughters-in-law with open arms. She considered it a blessing to have so many grandchildren and great grandchildren whom she adored and cherished every moment she spent with them. Thelma and George’s summer home in Mashpee was a very special place for the extended family. Her children and grandchildren will always remember the summers at the beach, cookouts, laughter, commotion, and love. It was a place that strengthened the family bond. Thelma was the devoted wife of George Darling of Burlington and the late Robert Cauldwell. She was the loving mother of Robert Cauldwell Jr. & his wife Andrea of The Villages, FL, Gary Cauldwell & his wife June of Burlington, Gail Mead & her husband Robert of Bedford, and Paul Cauldwell & his wife Gail of Wilmington. Thelma truly enjoyed George’s children from a previous marriage, Valerie Darling & her husband Chester Stone of Plainville, Mark Darling of Montana, Karen Kenerson & her husband Scott of Danielson, CT, Wendy Darling of Plainville, and the late Wayne Darling. Thelma is also survived by 15 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (exit 34 off Rt. 128/95, Woburn side) on Monday, Jan. 6 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Funeral Mass at St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Sunday from 3-6 p.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Thelma’s name may be made to In lieu of flowers, memorials in Thelma’s name may be made to Sawtelle Family Hospice House 320 Haverhill St. Reading, MA 01867. Kerri's Eulogy read at Thelma's Funeral Mass Good morning. My name is Kerri and I am Thelma’s granddaughter. On behalf of my family, I would like to thank you all for being here today. It is an honor to stand up here today to reflect upon her beautiful and amazing life. To some of us she was Thelma, others mom, others Grammy and most recently she was affectionately referred to, by her great grandchildren, as Mimi. Regardless of what you called her, each of us at some point in our lives (if not more!) leaned on her for support. And each time we called upon her, she welcomed us with a warm embrace, a caring and loving heart and supportive, non judgmental listening ears. Her depth of caring, devotion and thoughtfulness was truly admirable. Grammy was the rock of the family and the glue that has kept us together for so many years. She raised us, reprimanded us and was our biggest cheerleader. She taught us all how to love, respect one another, be sympathetic and empathetic, be patient and wise and never underestimate the power of love and family. There will never be enough time to share all of the wonderful memories of Grammy. She was a classy lady of deep faith, with a kind and gentle soul who aged ever so gracefully. She could tell you the latest fashion trends at anytime, enjoyed her weekly Friday mornings at the hair salon, was a talented knitter who took joy in making hats and sweaters for newborn babies, graciously shared all of her recipes especially her famous Christmas cookies, lemon meringue pie, potato salad, meatballs and clam chowder. She always knew everyone’s birthdays, anniversaries, graduation dates and due dates and truly appreciated the simple things in life. But she was most happy when she was surrounded by her loving family. The twinkle in her eye was never brighter than when she was in a room with her loved ones. When I asked our family to share with me some of their favorite memories, everyone’s first response was our time down the Cape. For many summers, George and Grammy graciously opened up their home to all of us, weekend after weekend, week after week. Often times there were more people than furniture but it didn’t matter to any of us. We were just grateful to spend time down the Cape together as a family creating memories that we will always cherish. George and Grammy always made it feel as if it was one big family house and not just their home. All of us fondly remember Grammy making fried dough for breakfast and George clinking his spoon in his coffee cup to wake us all up and Grammy telling him to be quiet and let us sleep. Grammy was always the first one to start making us lunches for the beach (and mind you each of them was carefully labeled because she wasn’t just making peanut butter and jelly for everyone) And when we returned from a long day at the beach she had snacks ready for us and Pina Coladas and Strawberry Dikeries as she called them, ready for the adults. And when it was time to start getting ready for bed, all of us paid careful attention to where Grammy was sitting in the family room, for we wanted to be the one to sit in front of her on the floor so that she would scratch our backs before heading to bed! Grammy had a way of making everyone feel special. All of us thought that we were her favorite, but we all know that she didn’t have any favorites, she loved us all the same but wanted us to feel extra special when we were with her. One of the countless ways she did this was her display of pictures on her refrigerator. For many years none of us put any thought to that when we visited her, a picture of us was front and center on her refrigerator. Again, we just secretly thought we were her favorite. Well, just recently George clued us in to her little trick. Evidently whenever she was expecting a visitor, she would rearrange the pictures so that whoever was visiting her was prominently displayed. She also made sure that she was either wearing a piece of jewelry or clothing that that person had given to her. This is just one example of how she demonstrated her love and devotion for each of her precious family members. It isn’t often in our lives that we come across someone so special that that person stays with you forever. Grammy was that person. In the coming days, there will be times when we will want so much to talk to her, be with her or ask her just what we should do. I hope that when those times come, we can begin to look to each other and find that part of her that she gave to each of us. Maybe we can learn to lean on each other and rely on each other the way we always knew that we could with her. Maybe then she won’t seem quite so far away. So, for your wisdom, tenderness and compassion, your understanding, your patience and love, thank you Grammy. After you, the mold was indeed broken. Fly high Grammy, I know that Grammy Payne is waiting for you with open arms and I can only imagine the stories that you will be sharing. We are all so proud to have known and loved you.