Life History

Notes

• 1930 Federal Census, Comanche County, Oklahoma, 10 April, Lawton, District 23, page 9A, 921 7th St, Hse #189, Fam #206
  Thomas, Merton Head Rents M W 26 Married at age 22 KS KS KS Farmer
  Thomas, Bessie F W 24 Married at age 20 OK TX TX [mar abt 1926]
  Thomas, Alfred Son M W 2yrs9mos OK KS OK [b abt June 1927]
  Thomas, Wanda M Dau F W 2mos OK KS OK [b abt Jan 1930]
  
  1940 Federal Census, Cotton County, Oklahoma, 2 April, Bryan Township, District 17-24, page 1A, Hse #6 Owned, Value $400
  Thomas, Myrten A Head M W 36  Grade 8 b Kentucky lived Rural Cotton County in 1935 Farmer  [b abt 1904]
  Thomas, Bessie Wife F W 34  Grade 8 b Oklahoma lived Rural Cotton County in 1935 [b abt 1906]
  Thomas, Alfred R Son M W 12 Grade 7 b Oklahoma Rural Cotton County in 1935 [b abt 1928]
  Tomas, Wanda Mae Dau F W 10 Grade 5 b Oklahoma Rural Cotton County in 1935 [b abt 1930]
  Thomas, Charlotte S Dau F W 2 Grade 0 b Oklahoma [b abt 1938]
  
  U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
  Alfred Robert Thomas
  Birth Date 30 Jun 1927 Chattanooga [Cotton County], Oklahoma
  Residence Chattanooga, Cotton, Oklahoma, USA
  Next of Kin Father Myrton Thomas
  5'8" 167 lbs, Brown Eyes, Black Hair, Complexion Dark
  Registration Date 30 August 1946
  
  Gravestone of Annie and Alfred Robert Thomas, Walters Cemetery, Cotton County, Oklahoma
  Anne CamilleThomas  Aug 14 1948  (no deathy date)
  Alfred Robert “Al” Thomas
  S1 US Navy  World War II
  30 Jun 1927 Walters, Cotton County, Oklahoma
  6 Sep 2014 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA
  Walters Cemetery, Walters, Cotton County, Oklahoma
  Photo courtesy of C S Allen, posted on Find a Grave 19 January 2016, accessed 10 November 2017, used by permission
  
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  ALFRED THOMAS Obituary
  Jun. 30, 1927 - Sep. 6, 2014 OKLAHOMA CITY
  
  Born Cotton Co., OK to Myrton & Bessie Thomas, Al worked in his dad's threshing business, was Valedictorian Ahpeatone HS `44; Cameron graduate and freshman class pres., then to OK A&M.  Served WWII in USN. Dispatcher Lawton OHP in 50's.  60's raised his family in Enid working as Mgr Dillingham Claims and the Home Ins.
  
  Al was honored with appointments by Gov. Boren to the OETA Board `76, and Gov. Nigh to Cotton Co. Commissioner in `81 being re-elected till retiring in '91, also served on ACCO Bd of Dirs. Al was a Mason 65 yrs and attended 1st United Methodist Church of Walters where he married Anne in 1992.
  
  Al worked to age 85, loved to travel and spent years as an ins. adjuster on storms around the country including Johnstown flood, Northridge earthquake and Katrina.  Al loved life, made friends everywhere and "lived during the best of times."
  
  Survivors:  wife, Anne; children Linda Hoernke, Susan Desaulnier and Keith Thomas; sisters Wanda Scherler & Charlotte Brock; 4 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
  
  Funeral and burial will be in Walters 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, 2014, at Hart-Wyatt.
  
  Published in The Oklahoman on Sept. 11, 2014, accessed on Leacy.com, http://legacy.newsok.com/obituaries/oklahoman/obituary.aspx?n=alfred-thomas&pid=172424571&fhid=22594
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  His Find a Gravememorial inlcudes a longer version of his obituary.
  
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  Alfred Robert “Al” Thomas
  BIRTH 30 Jun 1927 Walters, Cotton County, Oklahoma, USA
  DEATH 6 Sep 2014 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA
  BURIAL  Walters Cemetery  Walters, Cotton County, Oklahoma, USA
  
  Alfred R. Thomas, 87, died Saturday, September 6, 2014, in Oklahoma City. He was born June 30, 1927, on a farm in the NW corner of Cotton County, Oklahoma, to Myrton and Bessie Thomas. He worked in his dad’s threshing business doing custom combining from the Texas panhandle to North Dakota.
  
  He graduated Valedictorian of the 1944 class of Ahpeatone High School, attended Cameron College in Lawton where he served as President of the 1945 freshman class. He served in the U.S. Navy 1945-46 during WWII and returned to graduate from Cameron in 1947. Later, he attended Oklahoma A&M University in Stillwater.
  
  1950-56 Al worked as dispatcher for the Highway Patrol Hq in Lawton. In 1962 he moved to Enid where he raised his family and worked as Manager for Dillingham Claims Co. and later for The Home Insurance Co. of NY. In 1976 Gov. David Boren appointed him to the Board of the OETA.
  
  In 1977 he returned to Walters to farm and ranch. In 1981 he was appointed by Gov. George Nigh to fill a vacant seat as Cotton County Commissioner and was re-elected each term from 1981-91 when he retired. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Assn. of Co. Commissioners. Alfred was a member of the Masons for 65 years, and a member of the Walters First United Methodist Church where he and Anne were married in 1992. They relocated to OKC in 1995.
  
  Alfred worked until he was 85. He loved to travel and spent many of his working years as a catastrophe insurance adjuster working all over the country on disasters, including the Johnstown Flood, Northridge Earthquake and Katrina. He loved life and made friends everywhere he went, and often said he had lived during the best years of mankind.
  
  Survivors include his wife, Anne Thomas; two daughters, Linda Hoernke and husband, Roy, Susan Desaulnier, and son, Keith Thomas and wife, Nola; sisters Wanda Scherler and Charlotte Brock; grandson, Steven, and granddaughters, Becky, Jolene and Crystal and 7 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents.
  
  Funeral service will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday, September 12, 2014, at Hart-Wyatt Funeral Home with viewing from 9:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., burial at Walters Cemetery under direction of Hart-Wyatt Funeral Home.
  
  Parents:
  Myrton Alfred Thomas (1903 - 1988)
  Bessie Brinkley Thomas (1905 - 1990)
  
  --  MEMORIAL ID 135660777, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135660777
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Sources

• 1. Obituaries from Legacy
• 2. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
• 3. Gravestones of Oklahoma
• 4. 1940 Federal Census, Cotton County, Oklahoma
  • 2 April, Bryan Township, District 17-24, page 1A, Hse #6 Owned, Value $400
• 5. 1930 Federal Census, Comanche County, Oklahoma
  • 10 April, Lawton, District 23, page 9A, 921 7th St, Hse #189, Fam #206
• 6. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947