After losing his fight with pancreatic cancer, George Earl Thomas passed peacefully from this world to the next in the early morning hours of September 28, 2016 with his wife of 45 years, Marie Anita Pelletier Thomas and his two eldest children, Christopher Wayne Thomas and Matthew George Thomas by his side at his home in Houston, Texas.

George was born on August 2, 1951 in Haverhill, MA, to mother Norma Richardson and father Earl Thomas, the latter of which predeceased him on September 2, 2012 at the age of 84. In addition to Earl, George joins in Heaven his twin brother Wayne Herbert Thomas – who was taken before his time on December 21, 1969 just days before he was scheduled to deploy to Vietnam.

George was a consummate family man, spending considerable time and energy offering himself up to help in whatever way he could to make his family's lives easier, whether it be helping with home improvement projects, driving/flying cross country to shuttle family around, offering to lend a few bucks out with no desire to ever collect on the loan, or simply sharing his perspective as advice and guidance. He married his high school sweetheart on August 7, 1971 in Eagle Lake, Maine and spent the subsequent 45 years building memories with the woman he loved while living in Mapleton and Machias, Maine, Salem, Connecticut, and most recently, Houston, Texas. George and Marie were nearly inseparable throughout their life together and shared many mutual interests, including disco dancing, visiting estate and yard sales, exploring casinos, and traveling the country seeing the sights, but the more impressive thing about the two of them together was that they got every bit as much out of an afternoon sitting side-by-side in their backyard by the pool than they would experiencing a new place or making an amazing find at an estate sale.

While family was always his priority, George also developed incredible bonds with those with whom he spent any time, including co-workers and neighbors. George started his professional career in building trades working for Maine Buildings Systems, where he remained until its closing. After that, he worked as a certified lumber grader for Levesque Lumber in Ashland, Maine prior to beginning his long career as a civil service employee, which began in Cutler, Maine where he worked in the Public Works Department. During his time at Cutler, while working full time and raising four children, George took the initiative and sought schooling to satisfy one of his lifetime goals of obtaining his professional engineers license. He earned a B.S. degree in General Engineering in 1994 and successfully secured his P.E. license, an achievement he and his family take exceptional pride in, in July of 1999. Shortly thereafter, George moved to Connecticut and began working for the Veteran's Administration and eventually he left the V.A. and began working for Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Hartford. In 2006 he transferred to Houston, leaving HUD a couple of years later and returning to the V.A. Department working as an Energy Engineer at Michael E. DeBakey V.A. Medical Center, which was the last job he ever held and one he gave his all to as long as his body would allow.

He took great pride in his professional achievements and creating positive impacts wherever he could. His drive to succeed earned him the honor of being named "Energy Engineer of the Year" for all U.S. Veterans Affairs Department facilities in 2010. In his spare time, he wrote continuing engineering courses for an online website allowing fellow engineering and building trade professionals to utilize his experience and knowledge to better themselves professionally. He also spent considerable time teaching his children and their families how to be "DIY" experts, always allowing for "helpers" when completing his many projects, even if those "helpers" ultimately made the task at hand tougher, more complicated, or much more protracted than it would otherwise have been. This spirit of not only improving self but also improving others whenever possible exemplified the approach to life George had; he took very seriously his obligation to be a better man today than he was yesterday and he valued the opportunities he had to offer up his own experiences and knowledge to help others satisfy that obligation for themselves.

George is survived by his wife, Marie, sons Christopher (and wife Elizabeth), Matthew (and wife Iris), and Calvin L. Thomas, daughter Tasha M. Lawrence (and husband Christopher), 11 grandchildren (Rene M. Salinas, Sara L. Thomas, Madeleine E. Thomas, Christopher D. Thomas, Emma M. Thomas, Isaiah J. Lawrence, Maribella G. Thomas, Maya G. Thomas, David L. Thomas, Alexandra N. Thomas, Zaira S. Thomas), sisters Ninette Strange (and husband Charles), Karen A. Draper (and husband Richard), and Regina L. Stachnick (and husband Ray), brother Calvin J. Thomas, mother Norma, mother-in-law Stella Pelletier, sisters-in-law Pearl Lozier (and husband Phil), Sylvia Michaud (and husband Mark), Rella Pelletier, and Julie Forsyth, and countless aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends whom he cherished deeply.

George has requested to be cremated and also requested to not have a public viewing of his body, preferring to leave those he cared so deeply about with the lasting memory of his spirit, love of life and family, and physical appearance more consistent with his active lifestyle. His ashes will find their final resting place in Maine at a later date, and his remains will stay alongside his lifelong love, Marie, until those arrangements are finalized. The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who have prayed alongside us over the past several months and to all who offered your support to our family as we shared in George's final months, days, and hours. We also would like to thank Klein Funeral Homes and "Deacon Al" for helping us with the service and memorial and guiding us through the process in our time of great loss. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to a charity or organization that participates in the fight against cancer of any kind so that the world can finally be rid of this horrible disease.