Clayton "Fred" Thomas

CLAYTON FRED THOMAS, age 66, of Jacksonville, Florida, passed away suddenly at his home on Sunday, June 10th, 2012, of "natural causes." He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and was the son of Bayless Fred Thomas and Elsie Ruth Zollars Thomas. Fred would have been 67 had he lived to June 30th. Fred graduated from N.B.Forrest High School Class of 1963. He attended St. Johns Community College and the University of Florida, having graduated from Florida Community College at Jacksonville.

In May 1968, he married his high school sweetheart, Catherine Miller Thomas, and in May 2012, they celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary together. He and Cathy had three children together, Michael James Thomas, Kimberly Anne Thomas, and Susan Marie Thomas Pilling (Gordon Pilling), and Fred was a wonderful step-father to William Charles Knock, Jr., Cathy's son, whose father was killed in a May 1966 auto accident preceding Bill's birth.

Fred was raised by his mother, who was a devoted member of Lake Shore Baptist Church. Fred and Cathy were married in this church and for a time were members there. Fred was an avid fan of the Florida Gators and Jacksonville Jaguars. He enjoyed playing golf with his buddies and, until arthritis set into his knees, was a high-average bowler. His hobby seemed to be fixing his Honda Passport and then his Jeep Cherokee as well. He was a member of Mandarin Lodge #42, Order of the Moose.

Fred will be remembered for his willingness to help when anyone needed his help and his compassion. He will also be remembered for his impatience with Peter Pan (Cathy's conure), telling him to "Shut up, bird!" ! He had many talents, but he truly enjoyed fixing things and that included computers and copiers. Fred believed in providing great service to customers of his employers. Good customer relations was very important to him. He was employed with Tandy Corporation (Radio Shack) for about 20 years and was currently employed with Modular Document Solutions LLC at the time of his passing.

When Fred was 2 years old, his father passed away. His mother passed away in October 2005. He was also predeceased by his stepson, Bill, in 2000. He is survived by his wife, children, and grandchildren (Cameron Alexander Thomas, Dylan Parker Thomas, and Kaitlin Elizabeth Pilling), with whom he was very close. Also, he considered Bill's children, Andrea Brittany Knock and Amanda Tiffany Knock Sigmund (Houston Sigmund) (all of Lakeland, FL) as among his grandchildren and their children (Chloe Sigmund, Andrew and Reece Knock) as his great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life/Memorial will be held at the Mandarin Moose Lodge, 4450 Losco Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32257, at 5:00 pm on Saturday, June 23, 2012. In lieu of flowers, the family appreciates donations to Moose International for Moosehaven and/or Mooseheart or to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Tampa, Florida.