1917
Rev.
2011
Rev. Virginia Thomas
November 22, 1917 — April 30, 2011
BAKERSFIELD, VT - The Rev. Virginia C. Thomas, one of the first women to be ordained a deacon of the Episcopal Church in America, died April 30 at the Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans. She was 93.
After raising four children and extensively traveling the world with her husband, the late R. David Thomas, Jr., she enrolled in the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She graduated in 1978 with a Masters of Arts in Religion and was ordained shortly thereafter.
Following her ordination she organized the Dolphin Program in the Philadelphia area. Modeled on the close-knit behavior of these sea mammals, Dolphins are volunteers who call upon lonely people in nursing homes and become their one-to-one companions. The program spread nationwide during the following ten years before Rev. Thomas retired from it in 1988.
The Thomas couple then moved to Vermont, building a home in rural Franklin County adjacent to their daughter Betsy and her growing family. Rev. Thomas was deacon of the local parish, St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Enosburg Falls. Until a month before her death she regularly preached sermons that were known for their good humor, sound theology and insightful observations of family and the world around her.
Rev. Thomas was born in Utica, NY the daughter of the late Daniel R. & Bessie O. (Cowles) Campbell. In 1935 she graduated from Richmond Hill High School in Queens, NY where her father was a science teacher. She graduated Cornell University in 1939, majoring in French, and embarked on her 68-year marriage the following year.
She is survived by her children, Niel Thomas and partner Hermine Baker of Anchorage, AK, Duncan Thomas and wife Nina of La Canada, CA, Betsy Hart and husband Alan of Bakersfield; her grandchildren, Forrest Keelty and wife Melissa, Paul Keelty and wife Regan, Shannon Millington and husband Brian, and Wilder, David and Dylan Thomas; great grandchildren, Logan, Dylan, Emma, and Noah Keelty, and many nieces and nephews. Besides her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her son Andrew, and brothers, J. Duncan Campbell and wife Helen, and Hallock Campbell and wife Edie.
Funeral services will be held May 21 at 9:30 AM at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 323 Church St., Enosburg Falls, with The Rt. Reverend Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, officiating. The urn will later be placed next to her hus-bands in the Garth of St. Asaphs Church in Bala Cynwyd, PA.
For those who wish, contributions in Rev. Thomas memory may be made to the Vermont Food Bank, http://www.vtfoodbank.org/.
After raising four children and extensively traveling the world with her husband, the late R. David Thomas, Jr., she enrolled in the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She graduated in 1978 with a Masters of Arts in Religion and was ordained shortly thereafter.
Following her ordination she organized the Dolphin Program in the Philadelphia area. Modeled on the close-knit behavior of these sea mammals, Dolphins are volunteers who call upon lonely people in nursing homes and become their one-to-one companions. The program spread nationwide during the following ten years before Rev. Thomas retired from it in 1988.
The Thomas couple then moved to Vermont, building a home in rural Franklin County adjacent to their daughter Betsy and her growing family. Rev. Thomas was deacon of the local parish, St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Enosburg Falls. Until a month before her death she regularly preached sermons that were known for their good humor, sound theology and insightful observations of family and the world around her.
Rev. Thomas was born in Utica, NY the daughter of the late Daniel R. & Bessie O. (Cowles) Campbell. In 1935 she graduated from Richmond Hill High School in Queens, NY where her father was a science teacher. She graduated Cornell University in 1939, majoring in French, and embarked on her 68-year marriage the following year.
She is survived by her children, Niel Thomas and partner Hermine Baker of Anchorage, AK, Duncan Thomas and wife Nina of La Canada, CA, Betsy Hart and husband Alan of Bakersfield; her grandchildren, Forrest Keelty and wife Melissa, Paul Keelty and wife Regan, Shannon Millington and husband Brian, and Wilder, David and Dylan Thomas; great grandchildren, Logan, Dylan, Emma, and Noah Keelty, and many nieces and nephews. Besides her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her son Andrew, and brothers, J. Duncan Campbell and wife Helen, and Hallock Campbell and wife Edie.
Funeral services will be held May 21 at 9:30 AM at St. Matthews Episcopal Church, 323 Church St., Enosburg Falls, with The Rt. Reverend Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, officiating. The urn will later be placed next to her hus-bands in the Garth of St. Asaphs Church in Bala Cynwyd, PA.
For those who wish, contributions in Rev. Thomas memory may be made to the Vermont Food Bank, http://www.vtfoodbank.org/.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Rev. Virginia Thomas, please visit our flower store.
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