Carolyn Thomas

Born November 11th,1933 in Cairo, Georgia to George Leonard Worthy, a Navy veteran of WW1, an attorney and City Judge and Sarah Eliza Ledford Worthy, a high school English teacher. Both of her grandfathers served terms as state senators in the Georgia General Assembly, and her maternal grandfather, an attorney, was the Georgia State Treasurer at the time of his passing. At 15 years old she left home to attend college at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama. She later transferred to The University of Georgia in Athens, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and Phi Upsilon Omicron honor society. She obtained a degree in Fashion Design and after a year of working for a large department store in Atlanta, she realized she would prefer a career in education returning to the University to obtain her teacher’s certificate. She began her career as an elementary school teacher for the Savannah-Chatham County Public School system in Savannah, Georgia. While living in Savannah, she met a young Air Force officer from Birmingham, Alabama, John Dowell Thomas, a flight navigator with the Strategic Air Command stationed at Hunter Air Force Base. They were married April 1st, 1956 until his passing, one day after their 52nd wedding anniversary, April 2, 2008. Their firstborn son (John Jr.) was born while they lived in Savannah. Carolyn was able to convince her husband that a career in education would be better for their family than a career in the military. The couple and their, now two sons, moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where John would work as a guidance counselor at Tuscaloosa County High School and Carolyn obtained an additional degree in Library Science at The University of Alabama, and work as a department head at the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library at the University. Once John completed his course work for his master’s and PhD, he accepted a teaching position at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. They along with their three sons, moved to Tennessee in September 1968. While they lived in Cookeville, Carolyn received a master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling from Tennessee Tech she was a member of Phi Delta Kappa and was inducted into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. She worked as a librarian for the Putnam County School system and later accepted a position as the Putnam County School District Supervisor for Learning Resources, a position she held until she retired. She also served as an Adjunct Professor teaching classes in Library Science as well as in Guidance and Counseling at the university. In Cookeville, Carolyn was active in the First United Methodist Church and organizations like P.E.O. serving a term as president of the Cookeville Book Lovers Club and a term as president of the Putnam County Education Association, she was appointed by Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter to a commission tasked with improving education in the state. They enjoyed their life in Cookeville, where all three sons graduated from Tennessee Tech. Upon retiring, they enjoyed family and travel for several years, especially with John’s brother Wade and his wife Jan. In 2005, because of John’s battle with Parkinson’s Disease, they moved to Castle Rock, Colorado to live with their middle son (Curt) and his family. While in Castle Rock, she continued her associations with the Methodist Church, P.E.O. and was a member of as many as three book clubs at a time. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, John D. Thomas Sr., and her sister Florence Worthy Griner.

She is survived by her sons, John D. Thomas Jr. (Stacey) of Burke, Virginia, Curt Thomas (Jan) of Castle Rock, Colorado and Leonard Thomas (Cindy) of Leesburg, Georgia, as well as their grandchildren, Cole Thomas, Castle Rock, Lauren Thomas, Chesapeake, VA, Amelia Thomas, Castle Rock, Sean Thomas, Burke, VA, Jonathan Thomas, Burke, VA and Lillian Thomas, Castle Rock. Carolyn passed away, Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at her home. A family Memorial will be scheduled at a later date.