Theda Temple Drake, who died on May 23 in her Boulder, Colorado home, was born in Owosso, Michigan on March 4, 1925, the daughter of Garfield Earnest Temple and Bertha McFadden Temple. Raised in Owosso, she graduated second in her class from Owosso High School in 1943. She attended the University of Michigan on a scholarship, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in education in 1948. While at the University of Michigan, she met Larry Drake and they were married in 1945. Mrs. Drake accompanied her husband who, as a Naval officer, was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii for a year. Following his discharge from the Navy and their graduation from the University of Michigan, they moved to the new community of Levittown on Long Island. Mrs. Drake taught elementary school there briefly. A son, Lawrence Colborn Drake, Jr., was born in 1951. In 1953 a second son, Kevin Temple Drake, was born. In 1954, the Drakes moved to Livingston, where they lived until 1995. In 1961 a third son, Roger Munson Drake, was born. During the 1960s, Mrs. Drake pursued graduate training in library science and secured a job as librarian in the Roseland Elementary School. While working there, she served as the president of the Roseland Education Association as well as a delegate to the New Jersey Education Association Assembly. A strong believer in women’s rights and social justice, Mrs. Drake was active for many years in the American Association of University Women (AAUW) as well as the Parent-Teacher Association in Livingston. She was an active member of the Unitarian Church for most of her life. In 1995, Mr. and Mrs. Drake moved to Santa Barbara, California, where they lived until 2009, when they moved to Boulder. She was predeceased by her brother, Jack Temple, and by her husband Larry, who died on May 12, 2010. Besides her three sons, she leaves behind three daughters-in-law: Joan Jacobs (Larry), Carol O’Brien Drake (Kevin), and Jennifer Drake (Roger); four granddaughters; and two great-grandsons.
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