Dr. Frank Bancroft Thomas, 85

KENLY, N.C. - Dr. Frank Bancroft Thomas of Kenly, formerly of Dover, Del., died Tuesday, July 31, 2007, in Kenly. He was 85.

Dr. Thomas was a professor emeritus from North Carolina State University.

Funeral services were held Thursday at the Kenly United Methodist Church.

Dr. Thomas was born June 12, 1922, on the Evergreen Farms, near Camden, Del. He was the oldest son of the late Alfred Bailey and Helen B. Thomas.

At age 14, he served as a congressional page in the U.S. Senate for Sen. Harry S. Truman and Delaware Sen. John Hurd Hughes from 1937-1938 during Franklin D. Roosevelt"s administration.

Dr. Thomas was a 1940 graduate of Caesar Rodney High School in Camden.

After graduation, he enrolled in the University of Delaware and studied for two years before entering the Officer"s Training School, and served as a boat captain in the U.S. Air Force during World War II. Dr. Thomas retired from the Reserves as a major after serving with the Sea Rescue Service in the Gulf of Mexico.

After World War II, he returned to the University of Delaware where he graduated in 1948 and went on to receive a master"s and doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Thomas completed post doctoral studies from MIT.

His career started as an instructor at Penn State. In 1958, Dr. Thomas went to N.C. State as an extension specialist.

Throughout his long career in food science, Dr. Thomas earned many professional and honorary accolades which included N.C. governors Sanford and Martin appointing him to the Commercial Fisheries Study Commission. He initiated the NCSU Seafood Laboratory in Morehead City, and was a member of the Sea Grant Committee Advisory Commission. He was selected Tarheel of the Week and a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. Dr. Thomas" leadership in Seafood Extension promoted the growth of North Carolina"s seafood industry to international acclaim.

He is survived by his loving wife, Rachel Kirby Thomas; two brothers, Alfred B. Thomas and Samuel G. Thomas, both of Dover; and several nieces and nephews, extended family and lifelong friends. He was preceeded in death by his parents, Alfred Bailey and Helen B. Thomas, and brother Charles F. Thomas.

Flowers are welcome or memorials may be made to the Frank Bancroft and Rachel Kirby Thomas Food Service and Family and Consumer Science Scholarship, mailed to College of Agriculture and Foundation Office, NCSU, Box 7645, Raleigh, NC 27695-7645.