Willard Laymance Thomas Funeral Services will be held Monday, May 1, for Willard L. Thomas, the son of a pioneering Northern California family and U.S. Army officer who saw action in Aleutian Islands, the Philippines and worked as a counter-intelligence officer in Europe following World War II.
"Bill" Thomas, a third-generation Oakland resident, died Monday, April 24, at his home in Montclair. He was 86. After the war, Thomas was a key operative in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps in Trieste, Italy, which at the time was in danger of permanently falling into the hands of the Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Tito. It was there that the young military officer met Liliana Romanin, a young school teacher who had worked with the Allied occupation forces in Friuli Venetzia Giulia, her native region of northern Italy. They married in Trieste and returned to the U.S., where Thomas studied Arabic at the U.S. Army Language School in Monterey. His work in military counter-intelligence continued in the still-devastated city of Nuremburg, Germany, in the early 1950s.
For his service to his country, Thomas received the American Theater Ribbon, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Defense Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal and Army Occupation Medals for his duty in Japan, the Philippines, Italy and Germany. Thomas returned to his native Oakland in 1953 with his wife and infant daughter. In his later civilian life, he worked as an accountant for International Harvester and McCormick Foods. But his real passion was exploring the back roads of Northern California and the entire nation by motorcycle. He rode for more than 65 years and was well known among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts.
His ancestors first came to Northern Californian in 1851 as hop farmers in Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg. Another of his grandfathers came as a miner from Cornwall, England to Grass Valley, led the Thomas Silver Coronet Band at the Sierra Buttes mine and was one of the earliest members of E Clampus Vitus, an offbeat fraternal organization.
His survivors include his wife, Liliana Thomas of Oakland; a daughter and son-in-law, Laura Thomas and Don Lattin of Alameda; a son, Fred, of Oakland; two grand-daughters, Allegra and Brigid O Donoghue of Alameda; along with nieces and nephews, Richard and Elsie Quigley of Los Altos Hills; Stephen and Luisa Kathriner of Chico; Pam Barnes of Lincoln; David and Fran Kathriner of Moraga; Richard Quigley of Los Angeles; Adelicia Quigley of San Francisco; Robert, Angie and Quinn Quigley of Sacramento: and Sarah Barnes of Redwood City.
Funeral services and a celebration of his life will be held Monday (May 1) at 11 a.m. at the Tower Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. Entombment will follow at the mausoleum. Donations in Bill Thomas; honor may be made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 406 West 34th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.
The son of Willard Joslin Thomas and Lillian Laymance.
Contributor: Kathy W. Johnson (47014093)
"Bill" Thomas, a third-generation Oakland resident, died Monday, April 24, at his home in Montclair. He was 86. After the war, Thomas was a key operative in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps in Trieste, Italy, which at the time was in danger of permanently falling into the hands of the Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Tito. It was there that the young military officer met Liliana Romanin, a young school teacher who had worked with the Allied occupation forces in Friuli Venetzia Giulia, her native region of northern Italy. They married in Trieste and returned to the U.S., where Thomas studied Arabic at the U.S. Army Language School in Monterey. His work in military counter-intelligence continued in the still-devastated city of Nuremburg, Germany, in the early 1950s.
For his service to his country, Thomas received the American Theater Ribbon, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Defense Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal and Army Occupation Medals for his duty in Japan, the Philippines, Italy and Germany. Thomas returned to his native Oakland in 1953 with his wife and infant daughter. In his later civilian life, he worked as an accountant for International Harvester and McCormick Foods. But his real passion was exploring the back roads of Northern California and the entire nation by motorcycle. He rode for more than 65 years and was well known among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts.
His ancestors first came to Northern Californian in 1851 as hop farmers in Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg. Another of his grandfathers came as a miner from Cornwall, England to Grass Valley, led the Thomas Silver Coronet Band at the Sierra Buttes mine and was one of the earliest members of E Clampus Vitus, an offbeat fraternal organization.
His survivors include his wife, Liliana Thomas of Oakland; a daughter and son-in-law, Laura Thomas and Don Lattin of Alameda; a son, Fred, of Oakland; two grand-daughters, Allegra and Brigid O Donoghue of Alameda; along with nieces and nephews, Richard and Elsie Quigley of Los Altos Hills; Stephen and Luisa Kathriner of Chico; Pam Barnes of Lincoln; David and Fran Kathriner of Moraga; Richard Quigley of Los Angeles; Adelicia Quigley of San Francisco; Robert, Angie and Quinn Quigley of Sacramento: and Sarah Barnes of Redwood City.
Funeral services and a celebration of his life will be held Monday (May 1) at 11 a.m. at the Tower Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. Entombment will follow at the mausoleum. Donations in Bill Thomas; honor may be made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 406 West 34th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.
The son of Willard Joslin Thomas and Lillian Laymance.
Contributor: Kathy W. Johnson (47014093)
Willard Laymance Thomas Funeral Services will be held Monday, May 1, for Willard L. Thomas, the son of a pioneering Northern California family and U.S. Army officer who saw action in Aleutian Islands, the Philippines and worked as a counter-intelligence officer in Europe following World War II.
"Bill" Thomas, a third-generation Oakland resident, died Monday, April 24, at his home in Montclair. He was 86. After the war, Thomas was a key operative in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps in Trieste, Italy, which at the time was in danger of permanently falling into the hands of the Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Tito. It was there that the young military officer met Liliana Romanin, a young school teacher who had worked with the Allied occupation forces in Friuli Venetzia Giulia, her native region of northern Italy. They married in Trieste and returned to the U.S., where Thomas studied Arabic at the U.S. Army Language School in Monterey. His work in military counter-intelligence continued in the still-devastated city of Nuremburg, Germany, in the early 1950s.
For his service to his country, Thomas received the American Theater Ribbon, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Defense Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal and Army Occupation Medals for his duty in Japan, the Philippines, Italy and Germany. Thomas returned to his native Oakland in 1953 with his wife and infant daughter. In his later civilian life, he worked as an accountant for International Harvester and McCormick Foods. But his real passion was exploring the back roads of Northern California and the entire nation by motorcycle. He rode for more than 65 years and was well known among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts.
His ancestors first came to Northern Californian in 1851 as hop farmers in Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg. Another of his grandfathers came as a miner from Cornwall, England to Grass Valley, led the Thomas Silver Coronet Band at the Sierra Buttes mine and was one of the earliest members of E Clampus Vitus, an offbeat fraternal organization.
His survivors include his wife, Liliana Thomas of Oakland; a daughter and son-in-law, Laura Thomas and Don Lattin of Alameda; a son, Fred, of Oakland; two grand-daughters, Allegra and Brigid O Donoghue of Alameda; along with nieces and nephews, Richard and Elsie Quigley of Los Altos Hills; Stephen and Luisa Kathriner of Chico; Pam Barnes of Lincoln; David and Fran Kathriner of Moraga; Richard Quigley of Los Angeles; Adelicia Quigley of San Francisco; Robert, Angie and Quinn Quigley of Sacramento: and Sarah Barnes of Redwood City.
Funeral services and a celebration of his life will be held Monday (May 1) at 11 a.m. at the Tower Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. Entombment will follow at the mausoleum. Donations in Bill Thomas; honor may be made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 406 West 34th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.
The son of Willard Joslin Thomas and Lillian Laymance.
Contributor: Kathy W. Johnson (47014093)
"Bill" Thomas, a third-generation Oakland resident, died Monday, April 24, at his home in Montclair. He was 86. After the war, Thomas was a key operative in the U.S. Army Counter-Intelligence Corps in Trieste, Italy, which at the time was in danger of permanently falling into the hands of the Yugoslavian dictator Marshal Tito. It was there that the young military officer met Liliana Romanin, a young school teacher who had worked with the Allied occupation forces in Friuli Venetzia Giulia, her native region of northern Italy. They married in Trieste and returned to the U.S., where Thomas studied Arabic at the U.S. Army Language School in Monterey. His work in military counter-intelligence continued in the still-devastated city of Nuremburg, Germany, in the early 1950s.
For his service to his country, Thomas received the American Theater Ribbon, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Defense Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal and Army Occupation Medals for his duty in Japan, the Philippines, Italy and Germany. Thomas returned to his native Oakland in 1953 with his wife and infant daughter. In his later civilian life, he worked as an accountant for International Harvester and McCormick Foods. But his real passion was exploring the back roads of Northern California and the entire nation by motorcycle. He rode for more than 65 years and was well known among BMW motorcycle enthusiasts.
His ancestors first came to Northern Californian in 1851 as hop farmers in Dry Creek Valley near Healdsburg. Another of his grandfathers came as a miner from Cornwall, England to Grass Valley, led the Thomas Silver Coronet Band at the Sierra Buttes mine and was one of the earliest members of E Clampus Vitus, an offbeat fraternal organization.
His survivors include his wife, Liliana Thomas of Oakland; a daughter and son-in-law, Laura Thomas and Don Lattin of Alameda; a son, Fred, of Oakland; two grand-daughters, Allegra and Brigid O Donoghue of Alameda; along with nieces and nephews, Richard and Elsie Quigley of Los Altos Hills; Stephen and Luisa Kathriner of Chico; Pam Barnes of Lincoln; David and Fran Kathriner of Moraga; Richard Quigley of Los Angeles; Adelicia Quigley of San Francisco; Robert, Angie and Quinn Quigley of Sacramento: and Sarah Barnes of Redwood City.
Funeral services and a celebration of his life will be held Monday (May 1) at 11 a.m. at the Tower Chapel at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. Entombment will follow at the mausoleum. Donations in Bill Thomas; honor may be made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, 406 West 34th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111.
The son of Willard Joslin Thomas and Lillian Laymance.
Contributor: Kathy W. Johnson (47014093)
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