Carol Jones Thomas died in her sleep on June 15 in her Malibu home of 49 years.
Thomas was born on Aug. 5, 1930 in Michigan to C. P. Jones and Leona Laffrey Jones. Her mother died when she was nine, and she lived with her father in Idaho for the next 10 years. She married Frank Thomas in 1949 and devoted herself to raising their four sons.
When the family moved to Malibu in 1967, Thomas picked out her dream house overlooking La Costa Beach. She lived there for the rest of her life, rebuilding after losing the home in the 1993 fire. She helped her husband start his successful research company in the family’s Malibu garage in 1971.
Thomas was a world traveler who preferred the scenery of the Southwest and the Colorado Plateau. She collected art and pottery of the Navajo, Hopi and Zuni, and was instrumental in establishing scholarships and support for an educational program for Native Americans at her alma mater, Idaho State University.
Thomas is survived by her husband of 67 years, Frank; her three sons, Dale of Chico, Wayne of Reno, Nev., and Keith of Culver City; her sister, Shirlie Charlesworth of Salt Lake City; four grandsons; and four great-grandchildren.
“Carol did not wage a courageous battle with anything,” a loved one said. “She did not pass on, or go to join anyone or go to a better place. She lived a long and happy life and died peacefully. She will be missed.”