William Sanford Thomas (Bill)


A traveler and story teller, passed away January 21st at age 87, with many of his family members by his side.
Bill was born December 25, 1926 to John William Thomas and Joy Bessie Noble Thomas in Scott City, Kansas, and was raised in southern Idaho. At age 16 he enlisted in the Navy and spent 2 years as a Corpsman and was honorably discharged in 1945 after WWII was won. Propelled by the GI Bill, he graduated from the UofW with a BA in Economics in 1951.


Bill married his first wife Beverly Jean Clayton in 1949; together they had three daughters, Cherie, Cynthia and Deanie. Bill married Ruby Mae Dorn in 1953 and had two sons; Russel and Marly, during their 42 years of marriage. Ruby was felled by cancer in 1996. Bill was married one last time to Gene Hunter of Pueblo, Colorado. Their marriage ended in 2010.


Bill thoroughly enjoyed foreign travel and life, which was fostered by his employment with the Boeing Company. In 1960 he took his family to Paris on assignment to support Air France Spares for 3 years. He returned to France in 1971 to be a Director for European and North African airline maintenance operations, which required extensive travel to airline offices around his territory. The joke was that he would spend most of his time "sitting by the pool waiting for the phone to ring".


Another of Bill's overseas assignments was in Bandung, Indonesia in the1980's. Bill was there to help computerize the Indonesia Air Force. Before Indonesia Bill spent many years in England helping with the set-up of flight simulators. He retired after his return from Indonesia in his home in Anacortes, WA.
Bill enjoyed having dogs around his whole life and many of his children have shared his passion. Family and friends have joked over the years that they hope to come back in their next life as a Thomas family dog.


Bill was preceded in death by both his parents, his sister Phyllis Betia, and brother John Thomas. He is survived by his brother David Thomas, all 5 of his children - Cherie Thomas, Cynthia Thomas-Cox (Randy), Deanie Mackwell, Russel Thomas (Teresza), and Marly Thomas (Jody). His grandchildren Monica Kochansky, Darren Kochansky, David Crook (Naomi), Amy Crook, Alexandra Thomas, Megan Thomas, Mitchell Thomas, Tracy Wicentowich, Nicole Mackwell and Kevin Mackwell survive Bill, along with his 6 great grandchildren.


"A journeyed life, well lived, his way", is Bill's epitaph, and we will all miss him so very much. Everyone who knew Bill won't soon forget what an interesting, outgoing, opinionated, strong-willed man he was.
Arrangements are being made for a family gathering at the Lincoln County Cemetery in Shoshone Idaho over Memorial Day weekend.