Edith Thomas

News Obituary Article

ATLANTA: Edith Thomas, 80, motivator of students

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

Summer breaks were no excuse. Neither were holidays.

Every chance she had, Dr. Edith Thomas encouraged those around her to jump in, volunteer, learn a new skill or take on a fresh challenge --- just as she demanded of herself.

Every summer, she took her nieces and nephews to work with her. On Christmas Eve, she organized family gatherings where everyone was expected to recite the Nativity story or sing a religious carol. If she was helping a charity, it wasn't long before everyone around her was donating clothes from their closets.

"If she was involved in something, you had to participate," said her niece, Joyce Montgomery of Decatur.

"She was so central in making sure that the family remained connected to each other," she said. "And Aunt Edith didn't care where you lived. Her question to you was, 'When are you getting here?' "

Dr. Edith Dalton Thomas, 80, of Atlanta died of progressive dementia Sunday at Odyssey Hospice. The funeral is noon today at Central United Methodist Church. Carl M. Williams funeral directors is in charge of arrangements.

During her 50-year career as a professor, counselor and administrator, Dr. Thomas made self-betterment --- her own and her students' --- her life's work.

At Clark College, she was assistant registrar, dean of women and associate dean of student affairs. She earned her doctorate at Interdenominational Theological Center in 1987 while its director of admissions/registrar. She stayed on after her 1997 retirement as assistant professor of Christian education.

She went on mission trips and volunteered with everything from prison ministry to advocacy for seniors.

"My mother was a perfectionist and demanded excellence in all endeavors from herself, from her children and from everyone she interacted with," said her daughter, Lynn Smothers of Bowie, Md.

As ITC registrar for 20 years, she was often the first person incoming students met, said Elizabeth Littlejohn of Atlanta, an ITC vice president. Articulate, well-organized and elegantly dressed, she made a vivid first impression.

"She exuded self-respect and demanded self-respect from others," Mrs. Littlejohn said.

Dr. Patricia Bond-Hutto, associate professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, said her daily conversations with Dr. Thomas often helped her see spiritual matters from a different perspective.

Dr. Thomas went out of her way to extend herself to friends. Sometimes it was a simple gesture, like delivering one of her prized sweet potato pies. But one time, Dr. Bond-Hutto had emergency surgery in Chattanooga and was amazed to see that Dr. Thomas had cut short a trip and changed her plane ticket to be there.

"My family was all there when I came out of surgery, and lo and behold, there was Edith there, too," Dr. Bond-Hutto said. "My parents were just flabbergasted that I had a friend who would do that, but that's just the kind of thing that Edith would do.

"I would try to thank her, and she would say, 'Oh, girl,' and that was the end of that."

Survivors include her sister, Doris D. Willingham of Atlanta, and five grandchildren.

© 2005 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution