Obituary of Samuel Thomas

OBITUARY FOR SAMUEL THOMAS On Wednesday, April 15, 2020, Samuel Thomas, beloved father and grandfather passed away at the age of 89. Samuel was born on December 15, 1930 He is preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Frances. Samuel was born in Hoboken, NJ. He went to school in Hoboken and eventually moved with his family briefly to Brooklyn, NY. He met his wife there and together they moved to Jersey City where they resided and raised a family. After the death of his wife Frances he moved to Green Brook, NJ in to live with his daughter Marjorie, until he had to be cared for in a nursing home due to declining health. Samuel leaves behind his sister, Mercedes Sophia Williams. He is predeceased in death by his brothers, Edward, John, Moses, Sylvester, and David. Samuel also leaves behind 10 of his 11 children; Marjorie Mitchell, Larry ( Terry), Janet Thomas, Stephen (Martha), Randy, Bruce ( Linda), Samuel III, Diane Williams (Norman), Nancy Thomas-Stuckey, Shirley Thomas- Scott (deceased), and Susan Thomas. He also leaves behind 28 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, and a host of friends. He will be sadly missed by all. Samuel was a truck driver for most of his life. For all who knew “Sam”, he was always full of humor wherever he went and enjoyed good times. The things that he was fond of in his early life was playing the guitar, singing, and bowling. He loved music, and would sing many songs to his young children. Classical music was his favorite. He also taught his children how to fish and go crabbing. He had traps which he used at a place called Black Tom in the Hudson River in Jersey City. He came home many times loaded with many crabs in his traps, which were enjoyed by all in the family. His greatest joy in his life though was learning the truth from the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. He studied the Bible and was baptized in 1956 as an ordained minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He served faithfully for over 64 years. He preached vigorously throughout his life, and pioneered as much as he could in the last part of his life. This was to share the hope the Bible gives of a better world to come which would have no sickness, death or sorrow. One of his favorite scriptures was Revelation 21:3,4 which told of that promise. He knew that if he died, he would just be sleeping for a little while and would wake up in the bright new world order here on earth, where he would happily be greeted by many others resurrected by Jehovah God, to life eternal. Samuel’s service will be private due to the Covid Virus pandemic. His final interment will be at Bayview Cemetery in Jersey City at a later date. We thank everyone for your prayers, condolences and words of encouragement at this most difficult and sorrowful time.