Gary Lee Thomas

Gary Lee Thomas, 86, passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 22nd on the “Memory Care” unit at Homestead Assisted Living Facility in Eudora, KS. Gary struggled with Alzheimer’s disease for the past 6+ years & was moved into Homestead in December of 2021 by his daughter, Teresa.

Gary was born on August 18, 1938, in Onaga, Kansas & was one of two adopted children of Richard Lee and Faye (Gosper) Thomas. Gary had one younger sister, Donna Dick of California. Gary grew up on a farm on the outskirts of 23rd St. in Lawrence. Gary’s childhood homestead has been torn down to make way for a Storage Shed business. Growing up though, the homestead was directly South of the K-10 Hwy right off Franklin Rd. The old Co-Op refinery plant used to be on the north of K-10, across the road from it. Gary grew up loving to fish with his mother & father at the homestead pond, that was always full of big mouth bass.

In later years he’d camp out with his family at the homestead pond, catch fish & have fish fries. He loved animals & showed many cattle at the 4H Fairgrounds as a youth, winning many blue ribbons. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1956, & married Ellen Johnson in 1958 of Lawrence Kansas, & had his only 3 children by her, Greg, Teresa & Gizele. He trained in the Army around 1960. Another passion of Gary’s was boxing. He entered a boxing club in KC in the late 1950’s to early 60’s, when he was around 18-20 years old. He met Wesley Walker who was a trainer/fighter & the two became quick friends & sparring buddies. Gary fought in several “Golden Gloves” matches. Later in life Gary used his boxing skills as a bouncer in various nightclubs around town.

He found boxing matches exhilarating. After his children were born, he started his own Tree Trimming business called, “Thomas Tree Surgery” in the mid 1960’s. He also worked for the Lawrence Electric company trimming trees off powerlines. He moved his family to Lakewood, California in 1969 & began working as a union drywaller & taper. He divorced in 1972 & moved back to Lawrence KS around 1975. He continued work as a Union Tradesman in the KS Construction Trades working commercially out of Topeka & at KU. While he was still in California; he obtained a license from the Universal Life Church in 1974 as an ordained minister, so he could marry people. Marrying people was a passion of his & he was asked to perform some very interesting weddings. Honoring his friends by performing their funerals & Celebrations of Life, was also a way he felt he could give back to them. Gary was a very social guy & loved his friends for which he had many! He’d do anything for his friends & family. Gary also loved dogs & was never without one of his traveling companions in his car, especially “Connie” his mothers’ dog he inherited after his mother Faye passed. He spoiled Connie along with Cleo & Bruiser with many a McDonald’s hamburger! Gary moved to Linwood around 1999 & obtained a donkey named Speedy from his friend Barney. Gary loved his donkey & fed Speedy corncobs from his mouth!! Gary inherited the bug for gardening & tilling the earth from his parents. Gardening gave him great satisfaction. As a child he loved his pet pig named Petunia. As an adult he’d look forward to planting a vegetable garden every year, giving away much of his vegetables to friends & family. If you ever needed a hand, just ask Gary & he’d drop everything to come help you! He loved helping out those in need & would pick up food at the food pantry for people who had no transportation to get to the food pantry & he’d deliver their food to them.

Gary became a member of the Masonic Lodge while in California in 1969. He continued as a Masonic member when he moved back to Lawrence KS & attended the Acacia Lodge #9 (Blue Lodge) & became a Master Mason. He began his Masonic membership 55 years ago on & off with over 34 years of active good standing. The Blue Lodge he mostly attended, was Acacia Lodge #9 located at 1301 E 25th Street, Lawrence, KS 66046, off 23rd St. & Ponderosa Dr. Additionally, he was a 14th degree member of the Kaw Valley Scottish Rite since 2021. His father, Richard Thomas was also a Master Mason. Gary’s Masonic brothers really took care of him over the years. He absolutely loved going every Friday to the “Coffee & Donuts” social hour at lodge. As Gary’s health began to slow him down, & he could no longer drive, his close fellow lodge brothers i.e.; Randy Wells & Bill McDaniel & a few others would pick him up & drive him home from all of his lodge meetings & to the coffee hour every Friday. No one knows how much that meant to Gary to have that fellowship regularly, especially once he entered memory care at Homestead! He was always ready for his Thursday lodge meeting on Monday! He enjoyed playing pranks on people & would help his friends to play pranks on other mutual friends. One of his favorite pranks was scaring people with the pet mongoose that belonged to his friend Barney Barnard. Gary helped Barney to draw people in to look at Barney’s mongoose. Then he & Barney acted together as a team to convince the person that a live mongoose was inside the cage (only hair could be seen through holes). Gary would tell his friends to get close to the cage & look inside & Barney would bang a little on the cage, acting like he was trying to rustle the mongoose…then when the person least expected it, Barney would release the trap & that fake mongoose would come flying out of the cage across the room, throwing the unexpected guests into a frenzy who were trying to escape the hands of the fake mongoose! Many a guest wet their britches trying to climb walls, chairs or whatever they could to evade that mongoose’s grip! You never heard two adult men laugh so hard! That is just one of many examples of the fun loving nature Gary possessed to make people laugh because he loved to laugh! Anyone who knew Gary also knew he was an avid “storyteller”. Most of his close friends have probably heard the same stories 100 times over! Gathering weekly with old buddies at McDonald’s (Target Store after Covid 19 hit), to “shoot the breeze” over breakfast, was a special time of bonding & fellowship as well for Gary. He always looked forward to finding out how his friends were doing & to catch up with their lives. Gary was not shy & conversed with everyone, anytime, anywhere. Gary also did not miss a chance to go to the annual St. Patty’s Day parade with his friends! That parade was a big event for him each year & he began planning early! Each year he & his gang of friends would ride in some sort of old classic convertible or truck donning green beads & attire. He loved sporting his big green “Cat in the Hat” top hat, waving at the crowd. He adored sharing a carload with his good friends at the annual St. Patty’s Parade! He also loved to go to classic car shows with buddies.

Some of Gary’s favorite sayings were: “Gotta take care of some business”, “It’s a Good Day to Have a Good Day,” “Have a Better One,” & “Where there is a tree, there is a breeze”. That meant “though you can’t see the breeze, you can visualize the effects of it, by the leaves blowing & by hearing the whistle of the breeze through the leaves. That way you know that the breeze is real, though you can’t see the breeze.” Gary believed in Jesus, though he didn’t have a regular church. He regularly attended any of the services Homestead provided, while he resided in Assisted Living. He prayed often, & interestingly journaled daily about what was going on in his life… until he couldn’t write anymore. He began journaling while in Calif & continued journaling daily year in & year out, noting how special his children and friends were & how special his kids treated him.

Gary is survived by his 3 children he loved dearly i.e.; his son, Greg Thomas, of KCMO, (the eldest), Teresa Quintero of Parkville MO, then followed by Gizele Bell of Lakewood Calif, the youngest. His 3 grandchildren are; Jill Thomas & Jessica Bell-Okerstrom (Gizele’s girls) & Kenneth Franklin (Greg’s son). Teresa became his caretaker later in his life as his Alzheimer’s took root, & he needed oversight with his care. Teresa moved Gary to DeSoto after the tornado hit Gary’s Linwood farmhouse in 2019. Two years later in June 2021, she moved him into a duplex in Eudora, & finally into Homestead Assisted Living of Eudora, KS, 6 months later in December of 2021, after Gary began having multiple falls while living on his own & needed more daily assistance. The Eudora Fire Dept 2 blocks away, became Gary’s best friend! Gary was proceeded in death by both of his parents, Richard Lee Thomas, Faye Thomas, & his sister, Donna Dick of Calif. Faye’s sisters, May, Sadie, Edith & Marjorie, along with his cousins by his Aunt Edith Falkenstein, Max Falkenstein & Max’s sister Sandra, who Gary had many fond childhood memories with, including riding horses around the farm & to Mount Blue SE of the old homestead. Homemade ice cream & family picnics were common at Gary’s parents farm & became cherished memories for him, as well as Gary’s children.

On Saturday, January 18, 2025, both a visitation & Life Celebration will be held back-to-back at Acacia Lodge No. 9, located at 1301 E 25th Street, Lawrence, KS 66046 for Gary L. Thomas 86 of Eudora KS. A “Coffee & Donuts” visitation with family & friends, will be held in honor of Gary’s love for socializing over coffee & donuts from 9:00am-10:00am with his Life Celebration event to follow, from 10:00am-11:00am. There will be no public graveside service.

In lieu of flowers, Gary’s daughter Teresa asks that you either comment on the Warren McElwain Obituary page with your memories & stories of Gary or contact her directly via Warren-McElwain Mortuary, so she can gather stories for Gary’s Celebration of Life.

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.