Thomas, Earle L.

Description

Earle Lewis Thomas was born July 31, 1894, to Lewis R. and Emily Daniels Thomas in West Haven, CT., he resided in Boston and Newton Centre, Mass., Arlington, Va., and Scarsdale before settling in Rye in 1935.

He married Miss Helen Westmoreland Browder on September 10, 1925 at the First Methodist Church in Bristol, TN. They had one son and two daughters. In Rye his family lived at 54 Highland Road.

Earlier in his career, he worked as a broker for the Boston Consolidated Co. and for the William Ware Co. in New York City, and as an analyst for the U. S. Department of Commerce in Washington.

Earle served as an officer in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was known as “The Colonel” to several generations of Rye residents, in recognition of the rank he achieved in the U. S. Army, in which he served in both world wars. He was in the quartermasters corps while on active duty and continued in the Army reserve until his retirement.

Major Earle L. Thomas, of Highland Road, has been promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in the Quartermaster Corps, U. S. A. He is in charge of supply and distribution at the Port of Embarkation, Boston. Col. Thomas saw eighteen months of service overseas in the first World War and received the Purple Heart citation. He returned to active duty last July. Recently home for a rest, he received notice of his promotion on returning to his post.
FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1943 RYE, NEW YORK

In 1939, he helped found the Rye Kiwanis Club and served as its treasurer for many years. He was named Kiwanian of the Year on March 23, 1982.

He founded the Thomas Brokerage Co. in White Plains in 1953, and presided over it until his retirement in 1979. His work often took him overseas, and he traveled in Cuba and several European countries.

He also served as treasurer of the Rye United Methodist Church for. more than 20 years, and was a former treasurer of the Westchester County Mental Health Association.

A founder of the Rye Key Club, he was involved for more than 25 years in the Rye PTA and the Rye High School Dads Club. He also was a member of Rye Golf Club.

Earle Lewis “Colonel” Thomas , a retired commodities broker and Rye civic leader, died May 12, 1986 at United Hospital after a heart attack. He was 91.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife; a son, Gordon of South Salem; two daughters, Joanne Macomber of Marblehead, Mass., and Betsy Amin-Arsala of Washington, D.C.; a sister, Doris Hurlburt of Orange, Conn.; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.