Thelma S. Cryder was born in 1905 to Beach and Mabel Wallace Smith in Fairton, Cumberland County, NJ. At age 17 she graduated from Bridgeton High School and went on to complete her training at Trenton State Normal School (now known as Trenton State College) earning credentials as a teacher. She taught for one year a total of 15 pupils in five grades at the elementary school in Backneck. She married Ralph Johnson and the couple, with their son Ralph, settled in Cape May Court House, NJ in January 1928. The couple served the community as undertakers, working in the Matlack Funeral Home which became Radzieta Funeral Home.
Thelma was active in the Parent Teacher Association in the 1930’s. One of her projects was the placement of window screens in the elementary school to protect schoolchildren from greenheads and mosquitos. During this time, she also served as President of the Women’s Community Club where she spoke about the importance of voting for women.
Widowed in 1940, she continued operating the funeral business for four years until she married Dr. Millard Cryder. During his life and after his death, Thelma shared Dr. Cryder’s interest in the health and well-being of Cape May County’s citizens. Instrumental to the fund-raising efforts that forged the foundation of Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital in 1950, Thelma continued as a faithful volunteer and auxiliary member at the hospital for over 36 years.
For 40 years Thelma was an active member of the Board of Trustees of the Cape May County Historical and Genealogical Society. Her contributions included cataloguing and the preservation of prized collections there, including the museum’s medical exhibit. Thelma wrote articles on early county physicians. Her article entitled “John Dickinson and Danield Hughes: Two Early Cape may Physicians,” was published in the Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine.
An active member of the First United Methodist Church in Cape May Court House, Thelma served in various administrative positions with the church for more than 50 years. She was the first woman there to serve as lay Leader. In addition, she served twenty Methodist churches in this region as Sub-District Leader.
Also noteworthy are her 50 years as a member of the Cape May Patriots Daughters of the American Revolution, her 62 years as a member of the Eastern Star and her continual membership in the Cape May County Art League since its inception.
Thelma Cryder summed up her incredible list of volunteer activities by saying, “I want to be where the action is.”
On August 26, 1993 the Cape Women’s Resource Fund honored Thelma Cryder at their Third Annual Women’s Equality Day Tea held at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital (now known as Cape Regional Medical Center). Thelma Cryder passed away at the age of 104 on November 24, 2009.