Name of Deceased: Marie Lillian Thomas Age: 78
Date of Death: March 17, 2014
Place of Death: Presbyterian Manor, Salina, Kansas
Date of Birth: January 6, 1936 at Brooklyn, New York
Parents Name: John and Dorothy (Brown) Rigat

OBITUARY INFORMATION
She attended grade school and graduated high school in 1953 in Brooklyn, NY. She worked as a secretary at a corporate law firm in New York until she met and married William P. “Bill” Thomas who was a sergeant in the U.S. Army. They were married August 8, 1954 at Our Lady of Miracles Roman Catholic Church, Brooklyn, N.Y. They left New York on Friday, August 13, 1954, to travel to Kansas where Bill was from and settled on a farm south of Claflin, where they farmed and raised cattle. She worked for the Great Bend Tribune for ten years as a teletype operator and proof reader, ten years for Ruskin Manufacturing, and twenty years as a special education bus driver. She was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Altar Society, in which she served two terms as president, and Daughters of Isabella, all of Claflin.

SURVIVORS
Husband: Bill Thomas, of the home
Two sons: Steve Thomas of Pratt, KS
Tony Thomas of Claflin, KS
One daughter: Susan Blackshere and her husband Tom, Salina, KS
Two sisters: Dottie Savino of Orlando, FL
Laura Marra of Orlando, FL
Two Grandchildren: Brett and Brock Thomas
She was preceded in death by two brothers, John Rigat and Richard Rigat, one infant brother, Victor Rigat, and by one sister, Marilyn Rigat.

SERVICE INFORMATION
Funeral Service: Friday, March 21, 2014
Time of Service: 10:30 am
Place of Service: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Claflin
Vigil followed by an Altar Society Rosary: Thursday, March 20, 2014
Time of Vigil Service: 7:00 pm
Place of Vigil Service: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Claflin
Officiant: Father Pascal Klein
Interment: Claflin Cemetery, Claflin, Kansas
Visitation: 9:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m., Thursday, March 20, 2014 at Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home
Memorial Fund: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church or Golden Belt Humane Society in care of Nicholson-Ricke Funeral Home, Box 146, Hoisington, KS 67544

Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.nicholsonrickefh.net