John Thomas

John Leslie Thomas FREDERICK, Md. John Leslie Thomas, 91, died Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Frederick Memorial Hospital. Born May 14, 1918, in Bristol Tennessee, where he was raised, he was the son of the late Inez Thomas Parker and the grandson of a late Cherokee Indian whom came off the reservation and gave himself the name of John Robert Thomas. In his earlier years, he worked with his grandfather with freight and moving people. He was in the Army in 1943. He received an honorable medical discharge. Mr. Thomas was then a cab driver in Bristol Tennessee and Virginia. He relocated to the Baltimore area in 1952 and had other various jobs there. In 1958, Mr. Thomas went to work for the Baltimore Chapter for the Mentally Retarded as a supervisor until 1966. He then moved to Frederick where he made his home and worked for Jeanne Bussard Training Workshop as a supervisor from 1966 until 1980 when he retired. He had owned and operated his business, Thomas' Janitorial Services, for many years here in the Frederick area until retiring in 2005. Following his retirement, he loved working with his hands, crafting miniature log cabins, which he shared with his family and friends. Surviving are three daughters, Helen Johnson of Bristol Virginia, Linda Inez Hawkins and husband Russ of Berryville, Va., and Mary E. Shepard and husband Donnie of Elizabethton, Tenn.; three sons, Rickey L. Thomas and wife Tammy of Frederick, John R. Thomas and wife Pam of Middletown and Michael E. Thomas and wife Jamie of Piney Flats, Tenn.; 17 grandchildren; and 13 great- grandchildren. He is remembered by his dear, loving friend and companion since 1979, Jo-Ann F. Lee of Frederick and also by Gloria Walters of Frederick, Kelly Giffin of Hagerstown, Sandra Eyler of Gettysburg, Pa., James G. Stickler Jr. of Hagerstown; and many other special people who really enriched his life and he was very thankful for. Mr. Thomas is at the Robert E. Dailey & Son Funeral Homes, P.A., 1201 North Market Street, Frederick, where the family will receive friends from 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at the funeral home. Interment will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Frederick. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Jeanne Bussard Workshop, Frederick, MD. Online condolences may be made at www.daileyfuneralhomes.com