Randy Thomas

Randy Thomas, 53, of East St. Johnsbury, passed away at home on July 1, 2021 surrounded by his loving family after a courageous and hard-fought 9-year battle with cancer. Give him eternal rest, O Lord, and may your light shine on him forever.

Randy was born September 26, 1967, in Lancaster, New Hampshire. He was the oldest of two sons of Bruce and Diane Thomas of Lunenburg, Vermont.

Randy attended schools in Lunenburg and Gilman and graduated from White Mountain Regional High School, class of 1985. He was active in FFA and helped to plant the many trees at the school.

As a teenager, Randy started as a volunteer firefighter for the Town of Lunenburg and went on to serve as their Fire Chief for many years. He was also an EMT with Lancaster Ambulance for many years and covered many races in Groveton.

As a teenager he worked at Riverside Speedway. He then worked for the Town of Lunenburg, Twin Mountain Sand and Gravel, and Pike Industries. He started with the Vermont Agency of Transportation in 2000 and became a District 7 road foreman in Lunenburg until his retirement in 2019. He was an amazing equipment operator and could fabricate and fix pretty much anything.

Randy and Carol went on their first date on December 7, 1991 and were engaged three months later. On May 1, 1993 they married at St. John the Evangelist Church. Randy and Carol were truly best friends and enjoyed just being with each other. Randy became a dad when Matthew was born in 2000 and again when Anna was born in 2007. Family was everything to Randy. He attended all of his kids' activities. Randy was a cub scout leader as well.

Randy grew up spending time at the family camp in Maidstone. He was an awesome water skier and spent many summers skiing with his brother and cousins. He even skied on a canoe paddle! Growing up he loved snowmachining and riding dirt bikes. He loved fishing at Paul Stream and ice fishing at Maidstone. He loved Jeeps and went anywhere he could go. Randy loved camping in Maine and boating, kayaking, and camping in Maidstone.

Growing up Randy enjoyed helping during sugaring season and in recent years rekindled that love with his own small batch sugaring.

From a young age Randy always looked forward to hunting, especially deer season. For many years he enjoyed hunting with his son, dad, brother, and nephew.

Randy was an Earnhardt and Dale Jr. fan. He loved to watch Gunsmoke and Old West shows. He was a member of Corpus Christi Parish.

Randy was known as "Big Guy" for his large stature and had a big heart to go with it. He always had a giant smile on his face. Throughout his cancer battle he never complained and just did what it took to keep going. He recently pushed through to see Anna get confirmed and graduate 8th grade. He had true grit. We miss him so much.

Randy is survived by his wife, Carol; their children Matthew and Anna; his mother, Diane; his brother Rob and his wife Karen; and Carol's brothers and sisters: Rick Wilkins, Mark and Debra Wilkins, Karen and Lee Gammell, and Lisa and Jim Warren; nieces and nephews Tyler, Tara, Rich, Chris, Elizabeth, Josh, Meaghan, Adam, Cory, Erin, Katie, and Lindsay; aunts and uncles Dan and Mary Bell, Anna and Carl Lavallee, Mary Lou and Gary Ingalls, Amos Bell, Edson "B" and Deborah Thomas, Natalie Thomas, and many cousins. He also leaves his two Australian shepherds, Molly and Bandit, who were of great comfort to him.

Randy was recently predeceased by his father Bruce Thomas and his uncle Donald "Donnie" Thomas. He was also predeceased by his grandparents Vincent and Rita Bell and Edson Thomas, uncle David Thomas, and cousin Jeffery Thomas.

A funeral mass will be celebrated on Friday, July 9th, at noon at St. John the Evangelist Church in St. Johnsbury with the Rev. Fr. Karl Hahr as celebrant. There will be a luncheon to celebrate Randy's life directly after the mass. Burial will be at a later date.

Special thanks to Dr. Ripple, Dr. Kapadia, Dr. Spicer, Dr. Ready, Jeniane Rathburn, the NCCC-N, DHMC, and NVRH nurses and staff, CALEX and Lyndon Rescue, and the Hospice nurses for taking wonderful care of Randy over these last several years.

In lieu of flowers, Randy would say he's "all set". If he had to choose, Randy would want contributions to be made toward Matthew and Anna's education expenses. Therefore, contributions can be forwarded to Union Bank, Attn. Melyssa Whitcomb, PO Box 219, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819.

Bailey Funeral Home, Lancaster, New Hampshire is in charge of arrangements.

For more information or to send an online condolence please go to baileyfh.net.