VOORHEESVILLE — Jean C. Thomas loved children — six of her own and countless others whom she cared for over the years in her Voorheesville home.

She died on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, at the Our Lady of Mercy Life Center in Guilderland. She was 86.

Born on March 5, 1931 in Albany, she was the daughter of the late Leslie C. and Clara (née Harris) Sherman. Her father was a surveyor and her mother was a homemaker. Mrs. Thomas was the second of six children. She and her older sister would help their mother take care of their youngest siblings — twins David and Diane.

Mrs. Thomas attended Albany High School and met the man who would become her husband, William MacDonald, because he was the brother of her close girlfriend.

“She married at 18, had a baby at 19, and was a widow at 20,” said Mrs. Kiel; her husband died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

She and her baby son, Gary, then moved back in with her parents. “My grandmother would watch my brother while my mother went to work at the Department of Motor Vehicles,” said Mrs. Kiel. “That’s where she met my dad.”

She married Nelson C. Thomas and lived happily ever after. The couple had five children, so all together eight people — two parents and six children — lived at 8 Pleasant Street in Voorheesville.

“We were a typical loving family,” said Mrs. Kiel, and their street lived up to its name. The 10-room house at the top of the hill had a big yard in back and was a good place to grow up with friendly neighbors and the original St. Matthew’s Church right nearby.

“We had a lot of cousins near us. We’d get together summers at my grandparents’ camp on Burden Lake,” said Mrs. Kiel.

For over 30 years, Mrs. Thomas cared for children in her home. “She started out with a school teacher’s child and then took care of many school teachers’ children … It just grew,” said her daughter.

She was affectionately known as “Mrs. T.”  by the many children she cared for, and one of their mothers wrote out a dozen “Mrs. T’isms” in careful calligraphy, edged with flowers, which Mrs. Thomas hung in a frame on the wall.

The first saying was, “You hit — you sit.” Others included: “It’s not nice to say bad words” and “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it” and “Don’t tell others what to do; tell yourself what to do.”

“They are sayings that are good for life,” said Mrs. Kiel.

“My mother was such a caring, compassionate person,” she went on. “The children learned about life from her, about manners and respect.”

In her later years, Mrs. Thomas took great delight in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her daughter said, noting, “They were the love of her life.”

Throughout her life, Mrs. Thomas “loved family functions,” said Mrs. Kiel. “She loved jitterbugging with her sisters.”

Through tears, Mrs. Kiel told of the important lesson she had learned from her mother. “I learned to treat people as you would like to be treated,” she said, “and not to forget those in need.”

Also near the Thomases’ Pleasant Street home was the Voorheesville American Legion Hall. Mr. Thomas, who was in the service, was a member and Mrs. Thomas was very active in the ladies’ auxiliary.  She was the coordinator of the Veterans’ Christmas and was dedicated to donating to veterans throughout the year.

“If she saw a need, she’d fill that need,” said Mrs. Kiel. “She’d get lists of things the veterans needed. She tried to instill the gift of helping others all year long, not just at Christmas.”

Mrs. Thomas loved the Voorheesville Memorial Day parade, her daughter said.

“As a family,” said Mrs. Kiel, “we thought it was fitting she was buried on Veterans Day.”

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Jean C. Thomas is survived by two sons, Gary MacDonald and his wife, Michelle, and Clark Thomas and his wife, Sandy; four daughters, Cynthia Kiel and her late husband, David, Laurie Silvano, Cheryl Harrington and her husband, John, and Maureen Banuls and her husband, Ray; 10 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and her sister, Lois Slusarz of Lakeland, Florida.

Her first husband, William MacDonald, died before her as did her husband, Nelson C. Thomas, and her three sisters — Clare Wilson, Gail McMillen, Dianne Elmendorf — and her brother, David Sherman.  

Her family extends thanks to the staff at Our Lady of Mercy Life Center, especially Richard, Sue, and the rest of the staff on the Fatima Unit.

Mourners may leave condolences online at reillyandsonfuneralhome.com

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary, 31 Voorheesville Ave., Voorheesville, NY 12186.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer