J. Edward Thomas, 101

RHODESDALE - J. Edward Thomas, 101, passed away on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at the Chesapeake Wood Center in Cambridge.

Born in Ridgely on Dec. 28, 1906, he was the son of the late Arrow Aldred and Grace May Walker Thomas.

His early years were spent in the Ridgely and Hillsboro area. He later attended school and lived in the Rhodesdale area where he was known as "little Eddie" and "Grit," as he was a delivery boy for the Grit newspaper.

Mr. Thomas has worked for Ed Seller and Dupont's in Seaford, Del., and was a retired farmer.

He was a Maryland Minute Man with Company C of the National Guard of Cambridge in 1942.

He married the former Mary Gladys Colemn of Preston in July of 1930, she passed away on Dec. 31, 1987.

Mr. Thomas regularly drove himself to Brookview United Methodist Church where he loved to sing solos and enjoy the fellowship of the church.

He is survived by his daughters, Effie Hatheway and her husband, the Rev. Ora Hatheway of Seaford, Del., Betty Lowe of Hurlock; a son, William E. Thomas of Felton, Del.; and 12 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchidren and several great-great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by a son, David Thomas; a son-in-law, Charles lowe; a son-in-law, David Medford; a daughter-in-law, Jean Thomas; and a granddaughter, Mary Ellen Lowe and by his brothers, Aldred, Myron, Carlton and Harold and his sisters, Mrs. Wilbur Hurley Sr., Mrs. James Christopher, Mrs. Francis Rue, Mrs. Dorothy Ford and Mrs. Peyton Horne and by many nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Saturday at Williamson Funeral Home in Federalsburg with the Rev. Delmer Willey and the Rev. Ora Hatheway officiating. The family will receive friends at the funeral home, 1 hour prior to the service. Burial will be next to his wife in the Unity Washington Cemetery in Hurlock.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to either the Brookview Church, 5474 Indiantown Road, Rhodesdale, Md 21659 or to the National Federation of the Blind, P.O.Box 7482, Baltimore, MD 21227-0482.