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Obituary
Loretta was born in Mason City,
Illinois on Dec. 3, 1936. Her parents were Walter &
Mary Ballard Shawgo. She spent her childhood through
high school in Mason City with six brothers and
sisters – Water “Nash”, Donald, Duane, Lorraine –
her twin, Carolyn, and Evelyn. She graduated from
Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois, and Illinois
State Normal Teachers College – now Illinois State
University – in Normal, Illinois.
On April 13, 1957, she married C. Robert “Bob” Wade.
They had two daughters, Jennifer Ruth & Elizabeth
Ellen. Mr. Wade died in October 1992 and Jennifer
died in December 1999.
She spent six years in elementary education in
Atlanta, Bloomington, and Champaign, Illinois. She
then spent four years on the faculty of Lincoln
College. With her husband they started their own
businesses which they ran successfully together
until the early 80s – his JenBe Data Systems
(printing, publishing, etc.) and hers JB Catering.
In 1984 she began work as the administrative
secretary at First United Methodist Church in
Lincoln where the family also attended worship
regularly. Leaving her post as secretary in 1996,
she followed her decades-long dream serving as
pastor at the United Methodist Churches in Illinois
City and Pine Bluff, Illinois until her retirement.
She and Jerome “Jerry” Thomas were married on
February 15, 1998 and lived in Coal Valley, Illinois
until their move to Sonoma, California in 2003. She
continued work in the church for seven months as the
administrative assistant at Sonoma United Methodist
Church.
Serving was a very important part of her life first
on local, state, and national committees of the
American Diabetes Association through the seventies
and eighties and throughout the eighties and
nineties on local, district, and conference
committees of the United Methodist Church until her
move to California.
Her hobbies included needlework, reading mystery
novels, and travelling, but her true passion in
retirement was found in loving her granddaughters,
Lorna & Leah.
She was preceded in death by all of her siblings,
husbands Bob and Jerry, and daughter Jennifer. She
is survived by her daughter & son-in-law Dr. Eliot &
Elizabeth Carter and their daughters Lorna & Leah
who reside in Sonoma. |
A virtual memorial service will be
held on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. PST.
Loretta Thomas Memorial
Time: Jun 19, 2021 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and
Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
82758556628?pwd=VG8z
SGFrUTBuRGN0Q1R
ONE5VRjY1UT09
Meeting ID: 827 5855 6628
Passcode: Thomas
Memorials may be made to:
Sonoma United Methodist Church
Heifer Project International
c/o Beth Carter,
P.O. Box 635,
Sonoma, CA 95476
or donation online Donate - Sonoma
United Methodist Church (churchcenter.com) and
select Heifer Project in the drop-down menu. |
