Wilma "Bill" Major

Tell City, Indiana

Wilma J. "Bill" Major passed away on August 15, 2025, shortly after celebrating her 100th birthday with close family, her favorite Chinese food, a giant chocolate cake and a gentle rock on a porch swing. She will be remembered as a proud Christian, great cook and expert at stretching a dollar.

Bill was born on July 1, 1925, to Pressley Gilbert "P.G." and Georgia Alma (Imboden) Baker in a rural community in Caldwell County, Kentucky. As a teenager, Bill moved with her family to Evansville, Indiana, where her parents worked in the armaments industry to help the Allies' effort during World War II. When her new neighbor returned home from serving in the Navy, she was smitten enough to accompany him on a date to a local wrestling match. She married Orval Dee Major, the "boy next door," in 1948.

After marrying, the couple moved around three locations along the Ohio River, where Dee worked as a lockman on Dam 48, head lockman on Dam 43 and an assistant lockmaster on the Cannelton Locks and Dam in Indiana. During this time, they had two daughters - Sheila and Teresa - and Bill became a stay-at-home mom.

Bill loved cooking, especially experimenting with new recipes and delighting guests with her homemade hearty breakfast spreads. Her family fondly remembers enjoying her delicious, home-baked bread - eaten warm, straight from the oven - and her famous catfish dinners, fried with hushpuppies on the side. Her grandchildren also remember the treat-filled "care packages" she prepared to send them off on long road trips.

Bill also loved watching soap operas, listening to talk radio, taking long walks through nature, playing board games with her grandchildren, traveling to California to visit her friends, exploring the depths of her beloved chest freezer and shopping for bargains.

Her family hopes she is now sitting on a porch swing somewhere, listening to the birds and gazing at the moon.

Bill was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her siblings Raymond Baker, Beatrice "Sib" Fox, Cleatus Cannon, Nevelyn Johnson, Walter "Bud" Baker, and Fred "Toad" Baker. She is survived by her daughters Sheila (Robert) Morris and Teresa Major Greer; her grandchildren Lauren Morris, Amanda (Mark Rentfro) Morris, and J.C. Greer; and her great-grandchild Ryan Rentfro.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, August 20, 2025, from 5:00-7:00 PM CDT at Huber Funeral Home, Tell City Chapel.

Burial will be on Thursday at 11:00 AM CDT at Shady Grove Cemetery in Shady Grove, Ky.

Condolences can be left at www.huberfuneralhome.net