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Roy Richard Thomas  1926 -

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• Birth	1 Dec 1926	Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana
  Gender	Male
  Person ID	I1926	Complete
  Last Modified	17 Jan 2010
  Father	Roy Elmer Thomas,   b. 27 Sep 1898, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana ,   d. 4 Feb 1982, Southfield, MI: Hospice of Southern Michigan
  Mother	Iva Florence Deal,   b. 13 Oct 1899, Brazil, Clay, IN ,   d. 3 Apr 1982, Botsford General Hospital, Farmington Hills, MI
  Married	2 Aug 1921	Vincennes, Knox, IN
  Family ID	F5779	Group Sheet
  Family	Carol Jean Wehrwein,   b. 28 Mar 1929, Plymouth, WI
  Notes	Carol has no brothers and sisters and her mother did not drive. Therefore, when Carol's father suffered a fatal heart attack in Dec 1967, Carol needed to be closer to northern Virginia where Jennie Wehrwein lived. In the summer of 1968, the family moved from Colorado to Maryland. Roy Richard Thomas
  Children	> 1. S.R. Thomas   2. S.R. Thomas > 3. R.C. Thomas > 4. R.C. Thomas, Major, USA, Ret.
  Photos		Thomas Family gathering honoring Roy and Carol (2006) "Had a great time last weekend w/ mini family reunion. Russ was here on b'ness, and Sue decided to drive up from Tennessee to join the fun. Thus, rare opportunity for all six of us to be in one place at the same time, along w/ some of the spouses and kids. Sue, Steve, Russ, and I took advantage of the event to celebrate Dad's 80th B-day (1 Dec) and Mom and Dad's 56th wedding anniversary (9 Sept) by SURPRISING THEM w/ a written tribute thanking them for being our parents." Robert Carroll Thomas Fall 2006
  		Roy and Carol Thomas, 56th Wedding Anniversary (2006) L to R: Steven, Carol, Susan, Roy, Robert, Russell in a Greek restaurant, Bethesda, Montgomery, MD
  		At least one living individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
  		Thomas Family Meets the Howards Left to right - Sue Treadway - Dave Howard - Bob Thomas - Roy Richard Thomas - Susan Howard - Steven Thomas
  Last Modified	13 Jul 2008
  Family ID	F47	Group Sheet

• Event Map

  Event Birth - 1 Dec 1926 - Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth




• Photos		Roy Richard Thomas Won Healthy Looking Child Contest The Indianapolis News and W.H. Roberts Co., a dairy, held a contest for toddlers for the purpose of advertising "Roberts Nursury Milk -- Nature's Finest Food." Those with "round, chubby faces!" appeared June 26, 1930, in the newspaper and later in a Roberts Co. ad in the Indianapolis News. Roy drank a quart of cow's milk every day, until he discovered soy milk.
  		Roy Richard Thomas - Better Baby Contest Winner State Fair Better Babies Contest, Indianapolis Star ads 31 Aug 1929 and 26 June 1930
  		L.S. Ayres Department Store, Indianapolis, Marion, IN Roy Richard Thomas recalled that his father, Roy Elmer Thomas, in 1931-1932 would occasionally drive downtown to the Ayres Department Store. There would never be a place to park, so Iva Florence Thomas would be dropped off at the store's entrance. While mother was shopping, father and son would drive to the railroad switching yard, park, and watch the freight cars and steam locomotives. At the appointed time, they would return to Ayres, where mother would be waiting at the curb.
  		Railroad classification yard, Indianapolis, Marion, IN Roy Richard Thomas always looked forward to his mother's shopping downtown, for that meant that he and his father would park for an hour or so and watch the freight cars roll down the incline to join their respective trains.
  		Ora Albert Thomas's Tavern Roy Richard Thomas recalled, about 1933 "Uncle Orie" owned a neighborhood bar in Indianapolis, Marion, IN
  		Redford High School, Grand Rive Evenue at Six Mile Road, Detroit, Wayne, MI Roy Richard Thomas, along with about 4,000 other students, attended this high school, 1941-1945. The section of the building with gray cement-colored facade was relatively new in 1941. It connected two older brick buildings. The school was so crowded that the school day and the student body were divided into two parts: the juniors and seniors started their day at 8:00 AM and the freshmen and sophomores began their classes at 4:30 PM, after the others had left.
  		Roy R. Thomas from Sports Dept. to U.S. Army Roy Richard Thomas worked at the downtown office of the newspaper about forty hours per week (Tue thru Fri, noon-8:00 PM, Sat 4:00 PM-1:00 AM) during his junior and senior years of high school, which he attended 8:00-11:30 AM. He then hopped on the street car in front of the high school and rode downtown to within a couple of blocks of the newspaper office. (During his freshman and sophomore years, he had worked at his father's Redford Home Bakery, on Grand River Avenue a half block from the high school.) At the newspaper, Roy along with George Puscas, was responsible for marking up the daily sports results, compiling baseball standings, and the like. Puscas worked at the Free Press for sixty-five years, including many as Sports Editor. Roy did not return to the Free Press when he left the Army in December 1946.
  		General MacArthur leaving his headquarters, Tokyo, Japan (1945) Roy Richard Thomas completed nineteen weeks of basic and advanced infantry training at Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, AK in August 1945, just as Japan surendered. The normal course was eighteen weeks, but Roy was transfered from a rifle company to a mortar company when the Army discovered that he had very little sight in his right eye and could not see the target! He arrived in Yokohoma, Japan in October, and was sent by train as a replacement to a field artillery battalion to northern Japan, where he spent his entire tour of duty. He never saw Tokyo or General MacArthur. He did wonder why the Japanese built their towns so far from their railroad stations, but then realized that the area near the stations had burned to the ground after air raids. Even though the peace treaty had been signed, the Army mounted armed patrols with live ammunition for the first two months. When it became obvious that the occupation would be peaceful, the live ammunition was collected and stored in a bunker on post. Even though Roy was assigned to an artillery unit, he never learned to fire a cannon or saw a cannon fired. Most of his time was spent in administrative work in rural Japan.
  		Roy Richard Thomas, Japan U.S. Army barracks 1946 This photo shows a typical barracks, but wooden ladders had been added as fire escapes. The American soldiers were billeted in two-story Japanese schools, which were made entirely of wood. In the first few months of the occupation, units oiled the wooden floors to improve their appearance. When these wooden buildings burned,the fire spread quickly in part because of the oiled floors. When his barracks caught fire in the middle of the night, Roy Richard Thomas was awakened by another soldier who was on his way to a window. There was no light except for the flames and the room was filled with smoke. Roy sleepily followed that soldier, climbed out the window, and fell two stories to the ground. Then both crossed the closed quadrangle and, with the help of already those inside, climbed into a window of a part of the structure not yet engulfed in flames, and exited to safety. Six died in the conflagration, including two who slept a few beds away from Roy Richard Thomas. The rather primitive Japanese x-ray equipment at this remote base did not reveal any fractures, so Roy returned to duty in a week. Only some months later, when he was examined by American x-ray equipment at division headquarters in Sendai, was it discovered that he had fractured both ankles in the fall. It was the only jump, and that one without a parachute, that he made while assigned to the 11th Airborne Division.
  		Roy Richard Thomas Christmas card 1945
  		Roy Richard Thomas Yonezawa, Japan (summer, 1946) Typical farm and laborer amid rice paddies in this area of northern Japan, near the Sea of Japan. Roy Richard Thomas took this photo while mounted on horseback. He used his father's Kodak camera from World War I.
  		Roy Richard Thomas Yonezawa, Japan (summer 1946 p. 1) This rural area in northern Japan had no sanitary sewer system in 1945. Privies/outhouses were serviced by men with large buckets, who dumped the contents into these large containers on the cart, for transport to the fields and use as fertilizer.
  		Roy Richard Thomas Yonezawa, Japan (summer 1946 p. 2) A sanitation worker paused on his rounds in rural northern Japan.
  		Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL Frank Lloyd Wright: water dome toward administration building See the Album of photos taken by Roy when he was a student at Florida Southern College. The link is further down on this page.
  		Bartow, Polk, FL bouganvillea (1951)
  		Bartow, Polk, FL amaryllis (1952)
  		San Antonio, TX garden behind the Alamo (1953) Picture taken while attending the Medical Service Corps Officer Course, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston
  		San Antonio, TX river walk downtown (1953) Picture taken while attending the Medical Service Corps Officer Course, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston
  		Roy and Carol Thomas Family, Christmas in La Junta, Otero, CO L to R: Susan, Russell, Steven, and in Carol's arms, Robert. Susan had been born in Washington, DC in 1952, just before the family moved to Colorado. Steven was born in Salida, CO. Russell and Robert were born across the street from this house at the Mennonite Hospital.
  		Colorado Springs, CO: U.S. Air Force Academy, Chapel (1962) While living in Pueblo, CO, the Thomas family often visited the Air Force Academy. Roy pointed out to the four children the financial advantages of attending a service academy. Robert entered the ROTC program at James Madison University and retired from the U.S. Army after twenty years. Susan did the next best thing and married a ROTC student, who ultimately retired from the U.S. Army.
  		Colorado Springs, CO U.S. Air Force Academy, Chapel sunset (1962)
  		Thomas Family home in winter, Monte Vista, CO The San Luis Valley, population about 45,000, elevation 7500 feet, is a high mountain desert environment that has about the same amount of annual precipitation as the Sahara in Africa. Most snow falls on the mountains, especially on the western slopes.
  		Roy R. & Carol J. Thomas home Monte Vista CO
  		Roy R. & Carol J. Thomas home, Monte Vista CO
  		Roy R. Thomas & Susan R. Thomas This photo was taken in the living room of the Thomas home in Monte Vista, CO.
  		Abandoned mine tailings, upstream from Creede, CO This close up photo, taken by Roy Richard Thomas, shows the colorful but contaminated soil in a creek that ran through an area of abandoned mines.
  		Rockville, Montgomery, MD 631 Crocus Drive (1975) Carol had no brothers and sisters and her mother did not drive. Therefore, when Carol's father suffered a fatal heart attack in December 1967, Carol wanted to be closer to northern Virginia where Jennie Wehrwein lived. In the summer of 1968, the Thomas family moved from Colorado to Maryland. The family lived at 631 Crocus Drive until the three boys finished high school. In 1879, Roy and Carol sold 631 Crocus Drive and bought 9116 Falls Chapel Way, Potomac, Montgomery, MD.
  		Rockville, Montgomery, MD 631 Crocus Drive garden (1975) The garden with an Asian theme and its "dry stream bed" were in the rear yard when Roy and Carol purchased the property in December 1973. Roy enjoyed maintaining and enlarging the garden over the years.
  		Roy Richard Thomas Bibliographer and Manuscript Librarian for the Library of Congress As a part of the Library's Bicentennial projects in the early 1970's, Roy Richard Thomas studied and wrote annotations for some 900 books for "Revolutionary America, 1763-1789" (Washington DC: Library of Congress 1984, 2 v., 1671 pp.). The green binders in several book cases behind him ultimately contained one page for each of the 14,810 entries in theis definitive biliography.
  		Roy Richard Thomas
  		Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, Alexandria VA Carol and Roy Thomas have enjoyed the performance of various chamber groups since her retirement in 1999. They have become benefactors of many of these performing groups. See the Album link lower on this page for the groups they have enjoyed.
  		Peter Khanahmadi with his grandparents, Roy and Carol Thomas Graduation from Towson University, Towson, Baltimore, MD; B.S. in Business, May 2003 Peter worked as an analyst at the corporate headquarters of the Washington Post Company, Washington, DC. until entering the MBA program at American university.
  		At least one living individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
  		At least one living individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
  		Roy and Carol Thomas, 56th Wedding anniversary (2006) Roy and Carol are holding, at a Greek restaurant, Bethesda, Montgomery, MD, framed tributes written by their four children.
  		Roy Thomas honored by family for his family history work. (2006)
  		Roy Richard Thomas 81st Birthday (2007) Roy and Carol Thomas
  		Roy Richard Thomas 81st Birthday (2007) Roy and Carol Standing
  		Roy Richard & Carol J. Thomas & Susan R. Treadway Aug 2008 We spent four days and three nights in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. We were particularly interested in the Main Street of Harrisonburg, VA, for it is likely that members of the Deal family traversed that route, the "Great Wagon Road," before the American Revolution on their way from Pennsylvania to the Catawba River area of North Carolina. We visited two museums on Main Street in the historical district. The Quilt Museum, located in a private home built in 1856, had an interesting examples of nineteenth century needlework. The Higgins-Hardesty House, built ca. 1850, had several displays devoted to the history of the "Great Wagon Road," which became the Valley Turnpike in the nineteenth century, and Main Street, U.S. Route 11, in the twentieth century.
  		Program booklet for "Magnificat and Masterworks," 30 September 2007 A concert presented by three ensembles, The Bach Sinfonia, The Washington Kantorei, and Carmina at the National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. "This program was made possible by a generous grant from The Roy & Carol Thomas Fund for the Arts. The Bach Sinfonia, Carmina, and The Washington Kantorei wish to acknowledge not only the significant gift received for this program, but also the many years of support from Mr. & Mrs. Thomas. This is the second of three concerts in 2007 underwritten by Mr. & Mrs. Thomas and intended to introduce eight performing ensembles to new audiences in the Baltimore and Washington areas. It is individuals like Roy & Carol Thomas who continue to sustain the arts in our communities."
  		Postcard announcing the concert, "Courtly Splender: Music for Royal Occasions, 25 March 2007 "Courtly Splender" presented by the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble and Baltimore Baroque Band, Pro Musica Rara, and The Handel Choir of Baltimore at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, and underwritten by Roy & Carol Thomas.
  		Invitation to a reception at the German Embassy, 16 May 2007 The Cultural Attache, who arranged musical performances at the Embassy by The Washington Kantorei, The Beethoven Society, and other organizations, was bid farewell upon her retirement and return to Germany. The photograph shows the Attache and her husband at ease during one of their travels in the United States.
  		Handel's "Alexander's Feast," performed by The Bach Sinfonia of Silver spring, MD and The Handel Choir of Baltimore Roy and Carol Thomas introduced the directors of these two groups, who then collaborated first in a performance of "Alexander's Feast" in Washington, D.C at a national convention of musicologists and then in the recording of the CD at another venue. Clips from several tracks of the CD may be heard ONCE at: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS229US229&q=BACH+SINFONIA Clips of other live performances by the The Bach Sinfonia may be heard and this CD may be purchased at: http://www.bachsinfonia.org/cds.shtml
  Documents		Roy Richard Thomas (1926- )
  		Roy Richard Thomas World War II draft notice 1945
  		Roy Richard Thomas Japan 1945 Script issued by the Japanese government for their use in the Philippines, brought to Japan as souvenirs after the country's surrender by the American occupation forces
  Histories		Economy and Culture—Readings, 1800-1845: Speculation, Morality, and the Panic of 1837 Compiled and Edited by Roy Richard Thomas To View this Fascinating History click on this link: PANIC OF 1837
  		Economy and Culture—Readings, 1845-1865: Speculation, Morality, and the Panic of 1857 Compiled and Edited by Roy Richard Thomas To View this Fascinating History click on this link: PANIC OF 1857
  Albums		Carol & Roy Thomas - Chamber Music Performances (11) Carol and Roy Thomas have enjoyed attending chamber music performances since Carol retired in 1999. They have made generous gifts in support of the continuation of such programs as well as specific performances. (Note by Dave Howard Jul 2008)
  		Florida Southern College (11) Photos taken by Roy Richard Thomas of this beautiful campus in central Florida with buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This album includes a letter from Frank Lloyd Wright. There is also an article about the camera Roy used. Check this link for more interesting information: Frank Lloyd Wright Center at Florida Southern