Thelma Young, 76, longtime Frankford Civic Association board member, dies

Updated: Nov. 13 @ 11:14 a.m. with more family background.

Updated: Nov. 15 @ 10:22 a.m. with more personal details, courtesy of Northeast Times reporter John Loftus, who shared to limit the burden on the family.

NEast Philly will continue to update this profile of Thelma. We encourage anyone to contact us with additional information or share your memories of her in the comments below.

Thelma Young, 76, the feisty, passionate and funny, gray-haired, bespectacled and baseball-capped Frankford Civic Association board member, has died, a fellow board member has confirmed. Her age has not yet been confirmed, nor has the cause of death, though zoning board member Pete Specos referred to it as “sudden.”

“She was always active in the community, always looking to better the place she lived,” said Frances Clay, the President of the Frankford Civic Association. Young was a member of the both the civic association and the 15th Police District Advisory Council, or some form of it, for at least 15 years, Clay said. Young had spoken briefly during meetings about growing up in Frankford, though Clay couldn’t confirm details.

Young, shown above at the September civic meeting, “looked fine” at the association’s most recent meeting, another board member, Treasurer Tim Wisniewski told NEast Philly.

In September, it was Young who grilled state Rep. Tony Payton about a used car dealer parking a rotation of his cars on the sidewalk in the vicinity of Torresdale Avenue and Church Street. Young spoke with the kind of energy and fever that drew both laughs of surprise and the attention of those in the room. Payton agreed to go out there himself, though the complaint has resurfaced.

Updated: Young worked for Northtech, an Esteee Lauder division, based in Bristol, Pa., according to John Loftus.

Young is survived by at least one daughter, confirmed Clay.

Young also has a sister, a niece at least one nephew, said Specos.

Updated: The Frankford High School graduate is survived by a brother, a sister, a niece named Monica Gray, three nephews, a grand-niece and a grand-nephew. Her husband Robert is deceased. She had no children.

Though details of the funeral services haven’t been made clear, they will be managed by the Walton B Brown Funeral Home at 4725 Mulberry St., said Clay.

Updated: The viewing is Friday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at St. Joachim’s Church on the 1500 block of Church Street in Frankford. The Mass follows at 10 a.m., and the burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery on Twining Road in Willow Grove, Pa.