The Thomas family sat around a dining room table covered in old photographs Sunday, Feb. 28, at the home of the late Emma Lee Thomas, a loving mother and humble matriarch.
Family members shuffled through the memories: Mrs. Thomas in a cap and gown (she graduated from University of South Florida at 47), her husband of 64 years, Willie Thomas Jr., lighting a candle by her side during a wedding.
“Two peas in a pod,” daughter Gwendolyn Harris said.
The family threw a luau for the couple’s 60th anniversary. A large portrait, complete with Willie Thomas in a Hawaiian shirt, commemorated the occasion.
“Her smile — that would win me over every time,” son-in-law Tony Mathis said.
He pointed to the luau portrait.
“That’s the smile,” Tony Mathis said.
Mrs. Thomas died Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 surrounded by family. She was 89.
One of her daughters, Mary Thomas Mathis, is a City of Plant City commissioner and a past Plant City mayor, making Mrs. Thomas a former first mother of Plant City.
Mrs. Thomas was a vibrant and colorful soul. There was that one Easter, when she snuck candy under the decorative grass of her basket. She was a Buccaneers fan and knew all the players’ names. And she loved herself some crab.
Her family has many words to describe her: confident, calming, complimenting.
She smiled when giving her children and their friends constructive criticism. She couldn’t raise her voice, and she always said thank you.
As a former nurse, she was a natural caregiver.
“If I had a headache she’d come and rub my head,” Tony Mathis said. “If it was still hurting, she’d tell me I’d have to go to the hospital.”
Her youngest son, Gregory Thomas, said above all things, she was humble.
“She was the most humble, forgiving person you’ll ever meet,” Gregory Thomas said. “She taught you to be humble, especially the children.”
Mrs. Thomas adored children. After she graduated with a bachelor’s of elementary education in 1975, she taught at Marshall Middle School and Lincoln Elementary Magnet School. She also took care of the neighborhood kids. Many knew her as “Aunt Emma” and learned life lessons from her.
“She was empowerment,” Tundra Lamar, whom Mrs. Thomas considered a daughter, said. “She would tell me it’s not a matter of where you’ve been. It’s a matter of where you’re going.”
Willie Thomas and Mrs. Thomas opened their doors to the community, often bringing food to neighbors, including Lamar.
“You can’t talk about her without talking about him,” Mary Thomas Mathis said. “Because they were such givers, they received so much.”
Mrs. Thomas also fawned over her sons and daughters. While Gregory Thomas was working in California, Willie and Mrs. Thomas would make a Thanksgiving meal and ship it to him every holiday. Both loved to cook and worked for Fred’s Market. Mrs. Thomas’ sour cream pound cake was legendary.
“They loved to see people eat,” Harris said. “They loved to feed people.”
Mrs. Thomas was known to love food herself. She enjoyed going out to eat — especially Chili’s — and couldn’t get enough strawberries. She couldn’t eat the strawberry seeds, but Mary Thomas Mathis would cut them out for her.
In her later years, Gregory Thomas would fix her candlelight breakfasts when he would come to visit. Tony Mathis and her niece, Wanda Campbell, also cared for her.
Campbell’s mother, Pearl Nesbitt, was Mrs. Thomas’ sister. Nesbitt, Mrs. Thomas and another sister, Vera Benton, were the last three out of 13 children.
Known as the three Musketeers, the sisters had their own recliners in Campbell’s home. Everyday at 2 p.m. they would watch daytime talk show “The Real” and have snacks. Campbell had them celebrating all of the holidays with treats, including Halloween, when they decorated hot dogs in crescent rolls with ketchup and mustard.
Campbell had special jobs for them as well. Mrs. Thomas was in charge of folding programs for St Luke Missionary Baptist Church, across the street. The teacher in her would catch errors in the programs.
Her sisters died in 2014 and 2015, also around spring.
Even though Mrs. Thomas was the youngest sibling, she was watchful of her family her whole life.
“She just felt she had to take care of all of us,” Mary Thomas Mathis said.
Mrs. Thomas was preceded in death by her husband, Willie Thomas Jr.
She is survived by her sons, Antonio Thomas (Kiki) and Gregory Thomas, of Atlanta; daughters Gwendolyn Harris (Freddie), of Jacksonville, Florida, and Mary Thomas Mathis (Tony), of Plant City; special daughters, Tundra Lamar (Arthur), Melon Bellamy and Tina Bellamy; grandchildren, Kiantki (Valentina), of Zurich, Switzerland, Tressa M. Jones (Michael), of Wellington, Florida; Anthony Thomas, of Atlanta, Tory D. Harris, of Savannah, Georgia, and Christopher Thomas, of Atlanta; great-grandchildren, Nia, Koi, Tye, Isaiah, Solomon, Moses and Kinsley; and a host of family and friends.
A viewing will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 4, at St Luke Missionary Baptist Church, 108 S. Warnell St. A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at St Luke Missionary Baptist Church, 108 S. Warnell St.