Carol ThomasCarol Thomas passed away Sept. 24, 2013, at Pine Ridge Extended Care Facility in Pagosa Springs. She was 76 years old. She was born Sept. 28, 1936, in San Francisco, Calif. She celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary this past December.
She earned a B.A. in history from UCLA in 1957. She worked at Douglas Aircraft and the IRS before marrying Elmer Thomas and starting a family. She raised three children while living in the Sacramento, Calif., suburbs, Medfield, Mass., and Littleton, Colo. Mom enjoyed her life as carpool mother for school choir, Girl Scouts and soccer. She played in a bridge club and enjoyed taking the kids to the beach for a day and going camping with the family on weekends. Mom kept a vegetable garden and baked her own bread. She always had a well-kept yard, which was especially pretty when the forsythia bloomed. Mom enjoyed playing the piano and singing Christmas carols with us kids at Christmas. Her tastes in music ran from classical to country. She enjoyed cooking and always had a good meal prepared when dad and kids returned from a day of hiking or skiing. Her big Thanksgiving feasts were wonderful!
With children grown and graduated from college, mom and dad retired to Pagosa Springs. They joined Our Savior Lutheran Church, where she was active in LWML, VBS and FATS groups. She always loved the family ski trips to Vail each December and trips to California in the fall to see relatives. For her 65th birthday in September 2001, mom and dad flew to Germany to see her twin brother, Tom. A few years later, mom and dad visited son Fred in Florida when he took a job there. Ann came down, too, and we visited the touristy Florida things. Each day, mom asked, “Where are we going to eat today?” She loved the fresh seafood.
Mom became a five-year breast cancer survivor in 2012. She loved cats, especially Samantha, a long-haired white and red beauty who always slept next to mom. As mom became increasingly immobile, she started reading more, often three books a week. Her favorites include the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer as well as books by John Steinbeck, Sue Grafton and Jodi Picoult.
She is survived by Elmer Thomas, of Pagosa Springs, and three children: Ann Thomas of Atlanta, Ga., Fred Thomas of Los Angeles, Calif., and William Thomas of Pagosa Springs. She is also survived by brother Tom Buschke of Germany and sister Irene Mathews of Fountain Hills, Ariz.
Services were held at Our Savior Lutheran Church on Sept. 30.
