<P> At first, Naomi, with Vint and her new family, was set to move to Arizona to run a trailer park, but her so - called "partner" ran off with the money she had made selling her house . </P> <P> Naomi worked as a cashier at Food Circus, a local grocery store in Raytown, and continued to do so, even after her marriage . She later was promoted to Assistant Manager . She worked under three managers, Mr. Frank Palmer (who hired Thelma Harper as head of customer relations), Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Archie Woods, who sexually harassed Naomi . </P> <P> She had been married two previous times, most notably to Leonard Oates (played by Jerry Reed), but despite that, Vint is her soul - mate and the love of her life . She and Vint remain a solid couple, even though neighbor Iola Boylen makes no secret of her lifelong crush on Vint . </P> <P> Although she established a bond between her and her two stepchildren, (from Vint's first marriage) Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. and Sonja Harper; she had her own child by Vint, Tiffany Thelma Harper, who was named in part after her grandmother . After years of living in the basement of the Harper home, they purchased a trailer and lived in the backyard, out of the house, but never out of Thelma's shadow . </P>

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