Thelma Irene Wittanen was a Charter Member of the Juneau Igloo Women's Auxiliary No. 6.

She was born on June 6, 1906, in Douglas, Alaska, to Matthew Hermann Wittanen and Mary T. Brevig-Wittanen.

She attended Juneau High School, where she played on the basketball team and was known by the nickname “Duke.”

She married Simon Joseph Meade on September 13, 1924. Their son, Thomas Joseph Meade, was born in Alaska on May 18, 1925.

In 1940, she was working as a chambermaid.

Thelma later divorced Simon Meade and married John Benjamin Benson in Juneau on February 17, 1945.

Thelma Irene Wittanen Benson died in May 1980 in Juneau, Alaska.

1910 and 1940 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau, Alaska, Marriage License