Obituary of Angela M Detty

Our Heavenly father reached down and embraced his newest angel late Easter evening. Angela M. Detty shed her earthly bonds and embraced her Lord and Savior, leaving behind a legacy of love. The beloved wife, mother and career educator was just 97. She had been a Tucson resident for the last 38 years and a member of the Corpus Christi Catholic Church since its inception.

Born December 5^th, 1925, at her family home in San Diego, she was the third and last child of Ernest Thelen, MD and his wife Rosalia (Konert).

Detty’s entire life was devoted to learning and there wasn’t a book or museum that she didn’t find interesting. Her education began in San Diego, and she attended Our Lady of Sacred Heart and then Hoover High School, graduating in 1943. She went to San Diego State College for two years before attending Northwestern University, where she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1947. In the early 1960s she attended California State at the Orange County campus and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. She later earned her Master’s degree in education from Penn State.

Angela met the love of her life while working at her mother’s drug store. GE “Moose” Detty would often stop by for a cup of coffee and conversation. The WWII combat-veteran Marine was an athletic trainer and boxing coach at the nearby Naval Training Center. The two were wed in 1950. She could have never imagined the adventures that lay in store for her!

Detty began her educational career with the City of Orange school district in 1964, and when her husband became the Head Athletic Trainer for the Philadelphia Eagles the family moved to King of Prussia, a suburb of Philadelphia. Detty worked at Gulph Elementary School, in the Upper Merion School District, and spent most of her career teaching fourth grade. Her students may remember her reading books to them: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte’s Web and Capyboppy were her favorites! Detty retired in 1985 and moved to Tucson where her husband had established a factory to build the sports-medicine braces he designed and sold.

In retirement Detty became a student of her new environment learning about the desert, its animals and indigenous native tribes. Visiting friends were treated to tours of the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Canyon de Chelly National Monument-she was always eager to share Arizona’s beauty! Detty also became a world traveler with trips to Europe, Greece, Northern Africa, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia.

A devout Catholic, Detty bought a home not far from her parish after her husband died. For many years she would attend morning Mass.  She prayed the Rosary every night before bed and often several times during the day.  She was especially devoted to the Blessed Mother.

Angela Detty was predeceased by her parents and two brothers, Paul (Benny) and Charles (Fayelene), and her husband in 2003. She was a wonderful and dedicated mother to her own four children: Gerald (Peggy), Angie (Ron), Thomas and Michael. She was blessed with two grandchildren: Meghan Detty and Angela Colleen Gill.

Friends are welcome to join Angela’s family for a memorial mass at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 300 N. Tanque Verde Loop Road, Tucson Arizona 85748, on May 5^th at 10:00 AM with lunch immediately afterwards in the church’s hall.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that you say a Rosary, perform a random act of kindness, or share your knowledge with those around you.  This is how she lived her life every day.