Nov 14, 2002 By Frances Borsodi Zajac/ 9 min read

Renelda Thomas, Ms. Senior Pennsylvania, is a retired educator and an artist who expresses herself in paintings, words and music. In fact, the Uniontown woman used all three expressions of art when she won her state title last May: displaying one of her paintings while reciting her poem “My Rainbow’ and then singing the popular ballad “Over the Rainbow.’ She called the presentation “A Poem, A Painting and A Song.’

Thomas will repeat that successful endeavor in the talent portion of the national Ms. Senior America 2002 competition, being held this weekend in Biloxi, Miss.

And Thomas will also continue to share her philosophy of life, another important segment of both the state and national competition.

“Mine concerns faith,’ she noted.

Thomas remains steadfast in her faith although she has suffered her share of tragedy. She spoke about the death of her older brother who was killed as a teen-ager in an automobile accident, as well as the death of her daughter, who succumbed to complications from measles when she was 7.

“My philosophy is I’ve had so many tragedies, I can tell people I know what you’re going through, and I mean it,’ she said.

But there is also joy: Thomas has five grown children and nine grandchildren. She continues to work part-time with Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va., and makes personal appearances on behalf of the Ms. Senior Pennsylvania program.

And although she notes, “My life has been on hold (since winning the state competition) because I was just about to finish a children’s book,’ Thomas continues to have ideas for writing and her home is filled with her paintings.

Thomas was born in Friendsville, Md., the youngest of three children of Anna Klima, a Brier Hill native, and Emerson Thomas, a native of Maryland.

“My Dad came here to get a job in the mines and met my mother. They lived here for a while: my brother and sister were born in Pennsylvania,’ she said.

Her sister is Betty Pook of York. In fact, one of the first stops that Thomas made when she became Ms. Senior Pennsylvania was to attend a family barbecue with her sister and visit her brother-in-law, Bennie, who resides at a nursing home in York.

Thomas’ older brother, William Emerson Thomas Jr., died when he was 18 in an automobile accident in 1947. He and another youth were killed while a third survived. Ironically, years later, Thomas would unknowingly introduce the survivor’s daughter to her son. The two eventually married.

Thomas attended Duff’s Iron City College, a business school in Pittsburgh, and then married. She became the mother of five daughters and one son. Now divorced, Thomas has resumed use of her maiden name.

Her children include Brenda Bryner, a registered nurse, who lives in Smithfield; Nancy Otto, a music teacher who lives in Ashburn, Va.; Craig Frazee, who recently retired from 26 years in the Air Force and lives in Yorktown, Va.; Lori Frazee, director of inmate services for Frederick County Adult Detention Center, who lives in Frederick, Md.; and Lois Stasulis, a radiology technologist who lives in Vienna, Va. Her daughter, Anna Lynne, died in childhood from complications of measles.

Thomas’ love of arts runs in the family, with Nancy being a music teacher and Lois’ daughter Andrea writing poems and her son Ryan enjoying art.

During her marriage, Thomas lived in Clairton, Perryopolis, Friendsville, back to Perryopolis and then in Hopwood. Her husband was a truck driver and then worked in the steel mills.

In 1968, Thomas moved back to her home in Maryland. Six years ago, she moved to Uniontown.

“I came here because we came here almost every weekend. I did my shopping here and my relatives are here. It was convenient for me: the doctors, the shopping centers and I like Uniontown,’ she explained.

A stay-at-home mother, Thomas began taking classes at Penn State University after the death of her daughter. She later worked at Nemacolin resort when it was owned by the Rockwells as well as the Rockwell plant in Uniontown.

During the 1960s, she also worked in educational research, where she visited people in their homes and began an interest in oral history. She was also touched by the loneliness of people. One woman who depended on her church to help her told Thomas, “Every night I wet my pillow with tears.’

“She was talking about how lonely and sad she was. People can tell me stories because I’m a stranger. They can bleed their hearts out and that’s as far as it goes. You get it out of your system,’ said Thomas.

In 1978, Thomas earned a degree in early childhood education and began teaching. She taught kindergarten as well as third and fourth grade in schools in Aurora, Md., and Bruceton Mills, W.Va. Thomas taught a total of 13 years, taking a break during that time to help her oldest daughter, who became widowed with a 2-year-old child and was pregnant. She later returned to teaching.

What did she like about teaching? “The kids. I got a lot of good stories from them,’ Thomas said. “When they came in from recess, I put a title on the board: What is love? What is a family? What is a mother? The biggest one was ‘Toodles.’ I used to write as a kid and I think that kids need to use their imagination. Sometimes you learn a lot from your students.’

Thomas herself began writing as a child.

“I wrote in little journals. I wrote for the Junior Reporter Club in the Herald-Standard. This one is about ‘Vacationing in Pittsburgh,” she noted, taking out copies of her work.

As she grew older, Thomas began writing poetry and books. She wrote about her daughter in “Mommy, Heaven’s Way Up There’ as well as a joyful poem for one of her daughter’s weddings. Thomas has written poems for President Ronald Reagan about his 1981 assassination attempt and President George W. Bush about his victory in the controversial 2000 election. Both presidents sent her replies. Thomas proudly showed off the notes.

Thomas has also self-published a book called “Losers Three’ about two men in love with the same woman. She won’t say much about the book but noted “any good writer is inspired by something in their life.’ Is it about her life? “I’ll never tell.’

Thomas turned to self-publishing because she was wary of offers from publishing companies that asked to see chapters of her work, worried they might steal her ideas. But she said that self publishers don’t receive the same respect as other writers.

She has offered seminars to help other writers called “Everyone has a story’ and would like to start a club for self-published authors.

“I think some local authors are very good,’ she noted.

Reading is also important to Thomas who grew up on “Nancy Drew’ books written by Carolyn Keene.

“That was my favorite and I wanted to be a detective when I grew up,’ she said.

In fact, Thomas remained such a fan of Keene, whose real name was Mildred Benson, that she paid her a visit on a trip she made to Toledo. Benson died a short time later and Thomas treasures the photo she took with the author.

For her own writing, Thomas often uses her own artwork. She began painting after the death of Anna Lynne.

“I never painted before. One day, I painted a picture of Anna’s kindergarten photograph and I put it away. I never did anything else until several years later. If you can paint a portrait, that’s the hardest to do. I started painting and I’ve sold paintings. I tie my paintings in with poems,’ Thomas said.

Music is another art form that Thomas enjoys. She still gets together with friends who take turns hosting the group’s jam sessions.

“I always had a piano in my home,’ Thomas noted, then taking up a newspaper clipping with a photograph remarked, “This is a group I started in Hopwood in the ’60s. I called them The Youthettes. I had 45 and it grew so big we had to use a community building. I took them to Paul Shannon (a Pittsburgh children’s television show).’

Thomas also noted, “I had a Christian radio children’s program called ‘Boys and Girls for Jesus.’ It was fashioned after the Harbor of Light (radio program in Uniontown). It was on local radio in Maryland in the 1970s.’

Thomas and her family used to attend the Harbor of Light Chapel in Uniontown and later helped plan a reunion with some of the older members. She played the piano at that reunion and then began filling in as a pianist at churches when asked. Today, she is a member of Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Smithfield.

Thomas’ volunteer work also includes being an usher at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown and she enjoys sharing food she cooks with friends, neighbors and shut-ins.

For now, Thomas’ artistic endeavors – including several ideas for books – are on hold as she has been busy making appearances since winning Ms. Senior Pennsylvania. She has appeared at the New Jersey Senior competition and has made local appearances at the Uniontown Christian Women’s Club, Penn State University, Super 8 grand opening and a parade in California.

The Ms. Senior America Pageant, according to its Web site, was founded in 1971.

“It is the world’s first and foremost pageant to emphasize and give honor to women who have reached the ‘Age of Elegance.’ It is a search for the gracious lady who best exemplifies the dignity, maturity and inner beauty of all senior Americans.

The Ms. Senior America philosophy is based upon the belief that seniors are the foundation of America and our most valuable treasure. It is upon their knowledge, experience and resources that the younger generation has the opportunity to build a better society.’

Asked what she likes about being Ms. Senior Pennsylvania, Thomas said, “I think it’s quite an honor to represent Pennsylvania.’

She added, “I guess because I was able to prove to myself that the on-going years do not mean it’s shut-down time. You can go on and do things you never dreamed of.’