Authelia "Thea" Moleski

Authelia “Thea” Moleski, age 89 of Prospect, passed away on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at her residence surrounded by her family.

Thea was born on February 12, 1934 to the late Ercelle and Thelma (Belcher) Johnson in Fullerton, Kentucky, (Greenup County).  At age 5, she moved to Sunshine, Kentucky (Greenup County) where she attended Sunshine Elementary School.  At age 12, she got a job selling tickets at the Fullerton Movie Theater.  In May 1951, at age 17, she graduated from McKell High School in South Shore, Kentucky.  She worked for Grant’s Five and Dime, Lewis Furniture Store and General Telephone Company in Portsmouth, Ohio and the Atomic Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

In 1962, she moved to Columbus, Ohio, to work for North American Rockwell, where she met Donald K. Moleski.  On October 19, 1963, she married the late Donald K. Moleski in Columbus, Ohio. In December 1963, Don and she were transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thea worked at ESCRO Loan Closing Real Estate Company and Kelly Girls.

On May 28, 1972, they brought home a little girl, Regina Ann, who had been born on May 25, 1972 formalizing her adoption on March 1, 1973.  They had prayed for years for a child and she was their life. In the summer of 1977, they moved to Marion, Ohio, where Don had secured a job.  Thea worked for Dr. Albert Mogg, Marion Urology Association and Homemaker Service Med Center Hospital Supervisor for 16 years.  The family attended the Church of God in Marion, Ohio and then later the First Church of the Nazarene in Marion, Ohio.  Thea attended many years of B.S.F. (Bible Study Fellowship) and enjoyed the Bits & Pieces Quilting Guild.  She will truly be missed by family and friends.

Thea was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Donald K. Moleski and a sister, Zelpha Johnson.

Those who will cherish her memory include her daughter, Regina (Dean) Mentzer of Prospect, Ohio; her grandchildren (which were the light of her life): Breanne (Kory) Pytlarz and Samuel Mentzer; her sisters: Rowena Johnson of Wooster, Ohio and Nina Fern (Dave) Emrich of Elizabethtown, Kentucky and many nieces and nephews.  She will be missed by her close friends Trudy McDonald, Linda Laucher and her best friend Lois Aho. Lois was a faithful friend who would frequently sit at her bedside singing hymns and reading the Bible to her. 

The family would like to acknowledge and express their heartfelt gratitude to Ohio Health Hospice and specifically to Suzette Hall and Dawn Fogle who compassionately cared for her for years.

Friends and family may come to honor her life on Sunday, November 5, 2023 from 3pm to 5pm at Boyd Funeral Home and Monday, November 6, 2023 from 12pm to 1pm at the Marion Naz (First Church of the Nazarene), 233 West Church Street, Marion, Ohio 43302.  A funeral service will be held on Monday, November 6, 2023 starting at 1pm at the Marion Naz Church (First Church of the Nazarene) with Pastor David Gossard officiating. A burial will follow the service at Green Camp Cemetery.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be given in Thea’s memory to the Marion Naz Church (First Church of the Nazarene) and/or Marion County Council of Aging, 125 Executive Drive, Suite 102, Marion, Ohio 43302.  The Boyd Funeral Home is honored to be serving the Moleski family.

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