Thelma (Platt) &
Lawrence Biddler
Contributed by Richard Bradley
Thelma Lucille Platt was the 14th and last child of Papa and Mama, born on April 29, 1916, at their home in Stillwater. Papa bought her a little shetland pony, Nelly, bringing it home in the back seat of a Ford sedan. Nellie was named after a favorite horse the family owned at the homestead, so she was really Nellie II. Thelma claims to have been riding her before she could even walk. " I loved riding her and she acted as though she loved it too, and took extra care of me"
Baby Thelma
Little Thelma and Nellie II
When Thelma was 2 1/2 years old, she was badly burned all up and down her back. It was a winter day and Fed and Charles (those two!) had built a bonfire in the back yard. They were burning old shingles from the house which had just been re-roofed. Thelma had her back to the fire and her underskirts caught on fire. She ran, fanning the flames and getting first degree burns in the process. Margaret and her fiance Ralph Compton spent a lot of their time nursing her back to health, presumably helping their romancing in the process.

Papa, with Mama and Thelma, attended a car convention in Indianapolis. There Thelma darted into the street and was hit by a car, shattering her leg from knee to hip. Papa located the best bone specialist in indianapolis to set the leg and make the cast, so there were no lasting bad effects. Whew!
Thelma in Cast
Little Thelma had a fiesty spirit. (Had it her entire life!) Her nephew Arlie Nixon, two years older than Thelma, tells of Thelma stamping her foot and saying "you call me Aunt Felma!" Arlie's sister Iola was almost a twin to Thelma, being born on April 14, 1916. The girls were almost inseparable, and remained 'sisters' until Iola's death in 2001.

Thelma was a Girl Scout, earning many Merit Badges and advancing to Eagle Scout. To earn one badge, she worked for 3 summers at the Crystal Plunge, the Stillwater swimming pool.
Thelma and Iola Harrell
In high school she sang in the Glee Club, and was chosen to participate in the first All State Chorus Group in Tulsa. She graduated from high school in 1934, going on to the Tulsa Business College, where she was an honor student.

Her first job was with the Federal Resettlement Administration, as secretary to the Regional Director. One of their first projects was Lake Carl Blackwell, west of Stillwater. Soon after, their office was moved to Dallas and Thelma went with them. It was there that she took singing lessons and sang with the Dallas Philharmonic, and later with the Tulsa Philharmonic. Her singing teacher in Dallas told her that she was the only one since Lily Pons that he could get to reach "C" above "high C".
Thelma (Pete) at sixteen
Moving back to Tulsa, she worked for several different oil companies and while there, met Lawrence David Biddler on a blind date. He knew he wanted to marry her on the first date, but waited until Valentine's Day before proposing. They were married six months after their 1st date, on May 7, 1938, at the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church. Lawrence was a warehouse manager with a wholesale grocery company.

Lawrence had long had the nickname of 'Skeet', and Thelma wasn't long in picking up the nickname 'Pete' to match. Skeet and Pete is how the family referred to them from then on.
Thelma- dressed up

With the advent of WWII, Skeet enlisted in the Navy, going to Chicago for 'boot camp', then into the Pacific with the Naval aviation forces, and becoming a Chief Machinist Mate. Thelma and sister Nora shared an apartment in Santa Barbara, California for a while. There their first child, David Michael was born on October 18, 1943. Skeet returned to the states and was assigned to a weapons unit in Traverse City, Michigan, for the balance of the war.

When the war ended they returned to Tulsa, and their daughter, Marilyn Sue, was born on November 30, 1945. She was the last of Papa and Mama's forty four grandchildren. Skeet and Pete remained in Tulsa several years until Skeet's company closed down their operation and transferred him to Duncan, Oklahoma.
"Pete", "Skeet" , Mike & Marilyn
They moved to Walters, Oklahome, and managed a Dairy Queen Ice cream store built by a friend who asked them to manage it. After a couple of years, Skeet decided he could make more money if he owned the business and they moved to Checotah, OK where they bought and operated "Skeets Drive-in" for three years. It was sold and they moved to McAlester, buying the "Hamburger/Shake Drive In". The children were in high school there and the drive in was the gathering place for all the high school kids. Lots of fun for the family! Next was the "Pepperment Pad" in Pond Creek, Oklahoma, where they lived while Mike and Marily attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.

Retirement found them in McAlester building their home outside of town that they called "Nani-Yukpa", the Choctaw word for "happiness". Thelma really never retired, working the books for a boat dealership until she was well up into her eighties.

After Skeet's death in 1993, Thelma moved to the "Burgundy Place" retirement apartments in McAlester. She knew most of the residents before she moved in, and enjoyed living among so many friends. She died April 6, 2003.

Pete and Skeet are buried in Tulsa's Rose Lawn Cemetery.
"Pete", "Skeet" , Mike & Marilyn