Born in the Philippines, Thelma came to the U.S. in 1951 at age 15, earned a degree in biology, and eventually moved to Anchorage in June 1965. Politically active, she ran George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign in Alaska. In 1974, she was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives, where she served four terms, becoming the first female Filipina American legislator in the U.S.

Once her children finished college, she obtained her J.D. degree from the District of Columbia School of Law in 1991. In 1994, she was appointed Director of Alaska’s Office of Equal Opportunity. An expert on Alaskan/Filipino History, Thelma wrote Filipinos in Alaska: 1788-1958 and produced a documentary film on the topic.