Sidney Hale Thomas

06/28/2006

Sidney Hale Thomas, 87, of 235 Walker St. died Wednesday at Kimball Farms in Lenox. Born in Rutland, Vt., on Feb. 2, 1919, son of Julius C. and Gladys Wells Thomas, he was educated in the Orwell Schools, at Burr and Burton Seminary in Manchester and at Middlebury College. He took graduate classes at the University of Vermont. He was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, serving in the medical department in the Panama Canal zone. He was employed by Russell Sage College as a science teacher. He also taught in Chester, Vt., then spent the rest of his professional life at the Orme School, a college preparatory school in Arizona, where he served for more than 20 years as a science teacher and administrator. He was a member of the Otter Creek Audubon Society, the Order of the Eastern Star in Middlebury, the Independence Lodge 10, and the Sixty Plus Club of Orwell. As a member of the Middlebury Lions Club, he was named Rookie of the Year for outstanding volunteer service. An active member of the Middlebury College Midd-Vermont Alumni Association, he helped raise money for college scholarships. He also served as chairman for the bicentennial celebration of the First Congregational Church in Orwell. He and his wife, the former Ellen Lamar, were married in 1981. Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, George Machlin Thomas of Alberque, N.M., and James Carr Thomas of Fair Lawn, N.J.; a brother, George H. Thomas of Orwell, Vt., and two grandchildren. FUNERAL NOTICE -- A Masonic service for Sidney Hale Thomas, who died Wednesday, June 28, 2006, will be held at a later date in the First Congregational Church of Orwell. Instead of flowers, friends who wish to may contribute to the First Response of Orwell, the Volunteer Fire Department of Orwell, or the First Congregational Church of Orwell, care of WELLINGTON FUNERAL HOME, 220 East St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. He also leaves two daughters-in-law, Patricia Duke Thomas and Beatrice Birkin Thomas; two granddaughters, Sanya Thomas and Nadia Thomas; a niece, Susan Thomas Englander, and a nephew, David Thomas. A former student of Sidney, now a nationally known figure in the teaching of science, dedicated a top award-winning book to his old teacher. The dedication reads: "To Sidney Thomas, who instilled in me a lifelong fascination with the world of science and its joy of its discoveries." Years after his graduation, another student wrote this to his old teacher: "You were one of the best friends a youngster growing up could ever have. I was a kid rebelling against authority -- especially teachers. You tried to help me, and others like me, who didn't quite have it together. While others despaired, you turned me around."

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