RETURN <snip> ALMAGUIN NEWS, WEDNESDAY, March 1, 2006 VOL.120 NO. 10

Area loses good friend
By Rob Learn

A man for all seasons, Richard Thomas was comfortable at the helm of council or a canoe.
Photo by Sarah Thomas

BURK’S FALLS: We’ve all lost a good friend.

Richard Thomas died peacefully on February 22nd, with his wife Jenny by his side.

The man, best known locally for being the Reeve of Armour Township and for nearly denying former premier Ernie Eves his political destiny, was 74 years old. His death came three days after suffering a major heart attack and stroke while recovering from the serious injuries incurred in a traffic accident on December 27th.

Blessed with a golden voice and an unabashed boldness to question what had come before, Thomas left a mark on the world with his generosity and intellect.

Richard Malcolm Thomas was born February 4, 1932, in Toronto to Herbert Edgar Thomas, an immigrant from Wales, and Gladys Gertrude (nee Brooks) of Vivian, Ontario. He was the youngest of nine children. Thomas left home to blaze his own trail as a very young man, travelling and working in what would become his natural field - radio. He found early success in the radio field in which he excelled not only as an on air personality, but a writer, producer and programmer - often wearing all of those hats at once.

Despite that success, Thomas took a step back from broadcasting in the 1960s and moved back to Almaguin Highlands, where he had spent a great deal of time as a child, to raise his family with Jenny. They settled in Kearney where Thomas built and operated a recording studio while continuing to do voice-over work for radio and television.

It was during this time that he started to take action on one of his firmly held beliefs that society’s dependence on crude oil for fuel is harmfully foolish. By the late 1970s Thomas had built a still and was producing ethanol fuel that powered a converted 1970 Volvo. He fed the still sugar mangels and Jerusalem artichokes, which proved very efficient at releasing natural sugars for the production of alcohol.

At the same time Thomas entered the provincial political arena by taking up the local candidacy for the Liberal Party of Ontario. While fighting the 1981 general election against first-time Conservative candidate Ernie Eves, Thomas was fighting in court against charges of producing spirits without proper licensing. Before the case landed in court, Thomas had convinced Ontario’s Attorney General to change the law. With that victory in hand, Thomas was headed to a showdown at the polls with Eves that came down to the tightest of margins. The difference of six ballots sent Eves to Queen’s Park instead of Richard.

He followed that political foray with a run for the provincial Liberal Party leadership in which he placed third to David Peterson and Sheila Copps.

Thomas continued to be a voice on Almaguin’s stage through public speaking engagements and through his column in this newspaper. He generously gave his musings and prose to the Almaguin News off and on for 18 years, first under the heading ‘Ask a Dumb Question’, followed in later years by ‘And Another Thing’.

In 1990 Thomas helped start a local chapter of the Green Party and was their first candidate in Parry Sound Riding. He ran as recently as 2001 under their banner. He still holds the provincial record for the highest percentage of votes garnered by a Green candidate. In 2003 Thomas changed political gears and put his name on the ballot for the reeve’s chair in Armour Township. As with almost everything he took on, Thomas poured his energies and time into the position, sitting on nearly too many committees to count and making sure local concerns stayed in the limelight.

However, Thomas was no ordinary politician. Thomas prided himself as being a farmer. Besides raising crops for alternate fuels, Thomas raised fowl of all kinds, goats, cattle and sheep, for which he had a special fondness. The man, who was considered one of the country’s top three talents voice-overs, bragged most about time spent in the barn in the cold wee hours of the morning helping to bring lambs into the world.

Richard Malcolm Thomas is survived by his wife Jane Anne (Jenny) Thomas, children Pandora Thomas and her husband Mitchell Milgram of Salmon Arm, B.C., Jeremy Thomas and wife Margaret of Port Sydney, Sarah Thomas of Singapore and Nell Thomas and her husband Bob Carter of Sudbury. He is also survived by five grandchildren and siblings, William and John Thomas, sister Jean Comfort and half-sisters Mary Wilson and Tony Qualls, and half-brother Dean Thomas. He is predeceased by his parents and siblings Herbert Edgar (Bud) Thomas, Gordon Thomas, Robert Thomas, David Thomas and Ruth Thomas.

In keeping Thomas’ wishes no funeral was planned by the family, though a memorial service will be held in April. A date has not yet been chosen. The Thomas family is asking that anyone wanting to make a gesture in Richard’s honour do so by making a donation to their local hospital.

Richard Thomas, farmer, broadcaster, poet, columnist, story teller, politician, economist, father, husband and friend, February 4th, 1932 - February 22nd, 2006.

- Viewpoint -
by Allan Dennis

Our friend isn’t coming home. Despite his valiant fight, Richard succumbed to his major injuries (see Sarah’s column across the page) that he sustained when his half-ton collided with a transport truck.

While I’m filled with my own personal sorrow in losing a good friend, I’m even more saddened that all of us who call this area home have lost one of our greatest leaders.

For Richard Thomas was without equal when it came to intelligence, passion and presence. He commanded a room, and with it the attention to whatever cause he was championing at the time.

And, many a cause he championed. From his concern with what we humans are doing to the planet to whether his neighbour had someone to look after his or her livestock, Richard could be found leading the charge. His death is a major loss for the people of Almaguin Highlands. There will be no replacing Richard Thomas.

Many times over the 18 years that Richard wrote the column, he would say to me that he felt people were sick of reading his words on the same topic. I would attempt to encourage him: “It’s like the constant dripping of water. Eventually the bucket will be filled. And so your message will one day get through.”

Selfishly, I really didn’t want to lose this brilliant writer and amazing wordsmith from our pages. Although, I see his daughter Sarah has inherited the gift.

Each week Richard would spin his words into a tapestry that made one stand back in awe. It was all done on his old manual typewriter that sustained the pounding of those gigantic hands.

I so miss Richard’s arrival at my office each Monday morning, before the frantic noise of the day began. He would read me his creation of that week. Anyone who heard Richard speak can imagine how lucky I was to hear those magical words from Richard. I will forever remember that, along with our short but interesting conversations.

I learned so much from him. He was not shy about criticism. He was a man who believed words should not be carelessly thrown together. And he was comfortable in demonstrating that to me many times when I was guilty of such carelessness.

Most of all I will remember Richard for his passion. I so admired his ability to sustain a seemingly never-ending supply. If only we all could have just a small amount of what Richard showed each day.

Richard’s last words in his column of December 21st were, “God Rest You Merry this Christmas.”

And may you now rest well my friend.