Henry William Thomas
Obituary | Henry Thomas | Neill-Schwensen-Rook Funeral Home (nsrfh.com)
May 25, 1933 - August 4, 2021
Henry William Thomas, retired farmer, popcorn enthusiast and polka music fanatic, died Wednesday, August 4, 2021, at Clay County Medical Center in Clay Center, Kansas. He was 88.
Born May 25, 1933, on a farm eight miles northeast of Clay Center homesteaded by his grandparents, Henry was the son of William Kokanour and Edith Blanc Thomas. He attended a one-room school for seven years and graduated from Clay Center High School in 1951. Henry then farmed with his father and married Eleanor Anne Herr on July 22, 1956. They later divorced.
A founding member and fire chief of the Clay Center-Hayes Rural Fire District #1, Henry took great pride in that volunteer work. He also was instrumental in forming the Land of Ahs company, selling popcorn and bird seed. He loved growing sweet corn, researching his family roots and religiously scouring the Dispatch and Salina Journal from cover to cover every day. A stickler for honesty, Henry often quoted his father, who said that “as long as you tell the truth, you don’t have to have a good memory.”
Henry married Mariruth Harrison Nye on January 1, 1996, and the couple lived at the farm until moving to Clay Center in 2013. She died on September 28, 2016. He enjoyed traveling and in later years delivered shuttle buses to airports and hotels across the country. Henry never met a stranger -- “You run into the most interesting people out on the road,” he used to say.
Despite serious health issues that included two brain surgeries and cancer, Henry never gave up, his positive attitude evident to the very end. During his final days in the hospital, when a nurse asked him how he was feeling, he told her, “Never been better.”
Henry was in the Army Reserves from 1955-1963 and was a member of BPOE #2253, the Hayes United Methodist Church and Clay Center United Methodist Church.
Survivors include: son Tracy (Judy) Thomas, Lenexa, KS; daughters Teresa (Greg) Quandt, Peachtree City, GA; and Terri Thomas, Olathe, KS; sister, Rose Anne Reed, Clay Center; five grandchildren; one great-granddaughter; and longtime caregiver and family friend, Jerry Brock.
Visitation is 9:30-11 a.m. on Saturday, August 14, at Clay Center United Methodist Church, with a celebration of life to follow at 11 a.m. Face masks are recommended.
Memorial contributions may be made to Special Olympics Kansas.