Thelma Lape

December 21, 1917 - February 6, 2021

Thelma (Toni) Beatrice Lape passed from this earth at noon Saturday, February 6, 2021. She was 103 years young, having been born at the beginning of the Spanish Flu Pandemic and living to the Coronavirus 19 Pandemic. She was born to F. Clyde Williams and Minnie Mae McKee Williams in Cuyhoga Falls, Ohio. Toni was introduced to her future husband, Wade Wenger Lape, of Bluffton,OH in 1939. They did not have a date before Wade left for the War in the Pacific. However, they corresponded for 2 ½ years with the words blending from a chance-acquaintance style to a warm friendship tone. Then Wade wrote Toni saying he was flying 2,000 miles to Oakland, CA in late October 1942. Would she be willing to meet him for a date. Toni was living in Akron, OH at the time. Between them they flew almost 5,000 miles for their first date in Oakland, CA. When Wade's leave was extended, they married, November 6, 1942. They were made for each other and were madly in love for 27 years before Wade died. When Wade returned from the war, he decided to stay in the U.S. Navy and became a career aviator. Toni quickly learned how to move an entire household coast to coast, host dinner parties, entertain dignitaries and raise two daughters on the move. Upon retirement from the Navy, Toni and Wade moved to Upper Arlington, OH and then Toni was widowed in 1969. After Wade's passing, Toni stayed in her home in Upper Arlington and started a job working for the OSU Alumni Association and various philanthropic organizations. She moved to Friendship Village Retirement Center in 2001 shortly after the 9-11 tragedy where she lived until her death. Toni was famous for her quick wit and sense of humor, as when she taught a grandson how to bang pot lids on a tile floor. You could always count on Toni to see the only hilarious factor in any situation. She loved to travel and revisit places she had lived and visited previously. She was a fabulous cook and well known for her exotic dishes. Holiday dinners will never be the same without her. Toni was proceeded in death by her husband Wade Lape, her parents, F. Clyde Williams and Minnie Mae McKee Williams and a brother, Robert R. Williams and his wife Alice H. Williams. She is survived by her daughters, Susan Welch (Glenn), San Diego, CA, Marlen Mathias (Virgil) Dublin, OH, four grandchildren, Michael Welch (Luci) of San Diego, CA, John Welch (Linda) of San Diego, CA, Nicole Mathias, Tucson, AZ, Neil Mathias (Kristen), Dublin OH and four great grandchilden, Michael Welch, Zachary Welch, Nolan Mathias and Caroline Mathias. She will be interred next to her husband and parents in Akron, OH. Toni taught her daughters this favorite little poem about life when they were very young. "For every trouble under the sun, there is a remedy or there is none. If there is one, then try to find it. If there is none, then never mind it. RIP