Samuel J. Thomas

Below is the death notice of Samuel Thomas, Class of 1959. Brother of Anthony , Class of 1961 (deceased) and John, Class of 1971. Please keep the Thomas family in your prayers.

Obituary
SAMUEL J. THOMAS, Ph.D., known as Sam to family and friends, died September 26 on the west side of Cleveland after a brief illness. He was 83.

Beloved husband of 59 years to Paula (nee George); loving father of Lisa Cohen (Brady), Sarah Carino (Joe) and Mike (Sandy); grandfather of Grace and Audrey Thomas, Dana, Lauren and Caroline Cohen and Joey, Samantha and Jane Carino; brother of John (Doreen), Sr. Kathryn C.S.J. and Tony (deceased) (Janie), to whom he was closest in age, died in 2017.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Sam attended St. Edward High School in nearby Lakewood. He then enrolled at Kent State University, leaving his sophomore year to join Borromeo Seminary in the Cleveland area before heading off to the Theological College at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. But "Father Sam" wasn't in the cards. He left D.C. after two years to finish his undergrad degree at Kent. That's when he met his future wife, Paula.

They married in 1965, as Sam was beginning postgraduate studies in history at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, and went on to have three children. Sam received his PhD at M.S.U. in 1970 and taught European and American history there for a total of 45 years before retiring in 2011. While his work was published in many academic journals over the decades (a number of his articles illuminated important events and figures in American Catholic history), teaching was always his primary focus and a responsibility he never took lightly. Tough but fair, with a knack for delivering compelling lectures, he expected a lot of his students and more of himself.

Outside the classroom, Sam loved to work in his yard-especially if that work involved mowing grass or chopping trees-often done with the Kelly Perfect ax he got for his 60th birthday. Having wielded a similar one during his teenage summers working in the Cleveland Metroparks, he counted it among his prized possessions. Much to his family's relief, he severed only wooden limbs.

His indoor pastimes included reading (history, of course, was a favorite subject—especially anything about Theodore Roosevelt), vigorous daily exercise (sadly, he never achieved his goal of six-pack abs), learning to play acoustic guitar (which he stuck with longer than anyone expected, even taking private lessons) and purchasing far more of everything than he needed at Costco, Sam's Club and Walmart. As a result, he amassed enough toilet paper, paper towel and, consistent with his Lebanese heritage, extra-virgin olive oil to supply a small village. Sam also enjoyed the comedy of Peter Sellers, particularly the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau from the "Pink Panther'' films and was a longtime fan of fictional Philly southpaw Rocky Balboa. He was known to quote the latter in settings both casual and formal.

Sam's sense of humor is greatly missed. So are his decency, his generosity, his intellect, and his strength of character. As a husband, father and grandfather, he was a model of unconditional love who put family above all else. His grandkids, the recipients of his constant support and encouragement, were his pride and joy.

Funeral Mass Saturday, October 12, St. Dominic Church (3450 Norwood Rd.) at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the Congregation of St. Joseph, 3430 Rocky River Drive, Cleveland 44111.

Posted on: September 30, 2024