David W. Thomas, Lieutenant Colonel, United States Air Force (Retired), of Cary, North Carolina, died on August 18, 2020. Colonel Thomas, the son of John H. and Elsie Barton Thomas was born on May 19, 1924, in Vinton, VA. and later lived in Lynchburg, VA. He was a career officer in the United States Air Force, serving as a pilot and squadron commander among other duties. He served in the Air Force for 32 years, beginning his service flying missions in China during World War II and also serving during the Korean War. Near the end of his career he flew 115 missions in Vietnam. He has been a resident of Cary since his retirement from the Air Force in 1974. He was an active member of Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary where he served in many leadership positions. He was married to Iris Newton Thomas for 73 years before her death in June of this year. In addition to his areas of service, his interests included refinishing antique furniture, fly fishing, building fly rods and tying flies, and golf. He lived a life of faith, service, devotion, honor, and integrity, and continues to serve as an example of a life well lived.
He is survived by his daughter, Marsha Thomas Percival and her husband, Thomas H. Percival, of Lumberton, NC; son, Kenneth D. Thomas and his wife, Josie, of Cary; son, John S. Thomas and his wife, Diane, of Cary; grandchildren, Karen Orthner, Rebecca Miller, Lesley Clayton, John Percival, David Percival, David Thomas, Gregory Thomas; and 10 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Martha Lewis Thomas, of Winston-Salem, NC.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his brother, John H. Thomas, and his sister, June Thomas Johnson.
A memorial service will be conducted at a later date to celebrate and honor Dave and Iris’s lives. They will be interred together in Arlington National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Greenwood Forest Baptist Church Memorial Fund, 110 SE Maynard Road, Cary, NC 27511, or Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607.
Arrangements with Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Cary, NC.
