Phillip Dwayne Thomas

Phillip Dwayne Thomas was born August 24, 1960, at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, IL to Samuel and Lois Altergott. He had 2 older sisters, Christy and Cammy. Phillip passed away unexpectedly on September 22, 2024 at his home in Craig, CO.

Phillip was 18 months old when his father, Samuel, passed away. Phillip, along with his 2 sisters, were later adopted by their dad, Frank H Thomas otherwise known as ‘Whitey”.

The Thomas family moved around quite a bit, due to Whitey’s job, before coming to Colorado. First in Broomfield Colorado and finally settling in Oak Creek Colorado in 1973. Phillip attended the Soroco School System as an 8th grader and went on to graduate from Soroco High School in 1978.

Immediately following his graduation, Phillip went to Wyoming where he spent a summer working on a ranch and working in the hayfield. He then spent 4 years working for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad as a lineman where he made many lifelong friends. He also worked as a concrete laborer, an ironworker, where he worked alongside his dad Whitey and belonged to the Ironworkers Union, and his final job was a carpenter/handyman where he worked alongside his best friend Ron Miller and they completed many home remodels, home repairs and small additions together.

January 1983, Phillip married Debbie Wilson and to this union, 2 children were born, Ashley L in 1983 and a baby girl in 1985. This union was later dissolved in 1986.

Phillip and his 2 sisters grew up camping and fishing every weekend. His favorite place to go was Crosho Lake. He spent many hours there fishing with his family and as he got older with his friends. He loved being outdoors.

Phillip loved to ride his motorcycle. As a teenager, he and his good buddy Dean Cork, used to make jumps on the hill behind his house to jump their bikes off. They used to be quite the daredevils and several times they would even attempt flips and all sorts of stunt maneuvers.

Phillip could really draw and was an incredible artist. He would draw on just about anything and even had a coffee table that made a perfect drawing pad as the tabletop was white. He drew many airplanes and mallard ducks on that coffee table.

Phillip was the biggest Denver Bronco fan and while they haven’t done so good these past few years, he never stopped watching or cheering them on! Every Sunday, you could find him sitting in his chair, with a cold beer watching his beloved Denver Broncos!

Phillip was happiest when he was with his family. He loved family dinners and getting visits from his grandchildren. He spent the last 15 months living closer to his daughter and grandchildren which made him very happy.

Phillip was preceded in death by his parents, 1 baby girl and his best friend, Ron Miller. He leaves behind his daughter, Ashley Caster (Eric) of Hayden, CO, his 4 grandchildren, Kynadee, Karsyn, Jhettsyn and Rhyatt Caster of Hayden, CO, his 2 sisters, Christy Paxton (Jim) of Laporte, CO, Cammy Babcock-Hammond (Dave) of Fort Collins, CO, 6 nieces, 1 nephew and numerous great nieces and nephews and his many friends.

Phillip will be greatly missed.

Services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, September 29, 2024 at The Event Center at The Routt County Fairgrounds.