12 Facts About Thelma Keane

Thelma "Thel" Keane was the Australian-born American wife of The Family Circus newspaper cartoonist, Bil Keane.

Thelma Keane lived with relatives in Gympie while in high school and returned home to her family on the weekends.

Bil Thelma Keane was a United States Army promotional artist who drew posters and flyers for the war effort.

Thelma Keane had been hired as an accounting secretary for the office.

Thelma Keane moved from Australia to her husband's hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and eventually settled in the suburb of Roslyn, Pennsylvania.

Bil Thelma Keane began drawing The Family Circus comic strip in 1960.

Thelma Keane modeled the Mommy in the cartoon on his wife, Thelma.

Thelma Keane worked as the full-time financial and business manager for her husband while he continued to draw The Family Circus.

Thelma Keane's family credited Thelma's business skills as the main reason that Bil Keane became one of the first syndicated newspaper cartoonists in the country to regain the full rights to his comic.

Thelma Keane led the 1988 negotiations with King Features Syndicate to return the copyrights for The Family Circus.

Thelma Keane died at the age of 82 at the Barton House assisted living facility in Paradise Valley, Arizona on May 23,2008.

Thelma Keane was survived by her husband, Bil Thelma Keane, and the couple's five children, Gayle, Neal, Glen, Jeff and Christopher.