James M. Thomas Jr.'s Obituary
James M. Thomas, Jr. was born April 17, 1933 in Tuscola, Illinois to James Milas and Mary (DeHart) Thomas and passed away Monday, June 15th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was a child of the Midwest taught the importance of hard work at a young age. In grade school and high school he delivered telegrams, met the train from Chicago to pick up newspapers, detasseled corn, and delivered laundry. As a 17 year old, he contracted polio, the symptoms of which he bore the rest of his life.He worked his way through Millikin University, working three jobs, including houseboy at the Tri Delt house, where he met a cute young woman named Margie Hammill. They were married in 1954 and he began a career in television while Margie taught school. They moved to Indianapolis where daughter, Julie, was born in 1959, and later to Oklahoma City, where son, Kevin, was born in 1961. Jim spent the remainder of his life in managerial positions with various television and cable television systems, retiring to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma in 1995.He loved his family unconditionally and every dog he ever encountered. He played the piano and loved music. He had the gift of making each person he met feel special in the way he listened. He left his family with a legacy of hard work, courage and love, for which they are eternally grateful.He is survived by his wife of sixty years, Marjory Thomas, his daughter and son-in-law, Julie and Scott Rowland, his son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Ellen Thomas, and four grandchildren: Taylor, Jordan, John and Kate, as well as a sister and brother-in-law, Jean and Richard Kincanon, their daughters, Kathy and Tracy, and brother-in-law Roger Coil. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister, Joyce Coil. Memorial Service Saturday, June 20th, 2015 – 10:00 AM-Asbury United Methodist Church.
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