Thelma Keane, the wife and inspiration of Bil Keane, who created on of the most famous comic strips, "The Family Circus," passed away last week of Alzheimer's disease at the age of 82, her husband said.

Just last month, Thelma was singing and dancing at her birthday party, but her health began to decline rapidly last week, and she passed away on Friday, her family said.

"She was the inspiration for all of my success," the 85-year-old cartoonist told The Associated Press from his home in Paradise Valley on Sunday. "When the cartoon first appeared, she looked so much like Mommy that if she was in the supermarket pushing her cart around, people would come up to her and say, ’Aren’t you the Mommy in ’Family Circus?’ and she would admit it."

The cartoon series, which has been in continuous production since 1960, is currently featured in over 1,500 newspapers.

"I give all the credit to my wife Thel who was the inspiration for all the cartoons," Keane said. "She was very, very vital to any success that I had."

The pair met during World War II when Bil was stationed in Brisbane, Australia, from which Thelma was a native. They married in 1948 and moved to Keane's hometown of Philadelphia. They had five children.

"I had this desk alongside the most beautiful Australian 18-year-old girl with long brown hair," Keane recalled. "And I got up enough nerve to ask her for a date."

Originally called "The Family Circle" due to its use of a single captioned panel with a round border suggesting the closeness of the characters, the strip depicts the true inquisitive, honest, and sweet nature of children and family life.