Phyllis Thomas’s impact on Morgan Hill stretches from El Toro’s
peak to the counseling office at Live Oak High School, from the
urban limit line that surrounds most of the city to the St. John
Episcopal Church that she helped found.
Phyllis Thomas’s impact on Morgan Hill stretches from El Toro’s peak to the counseling office at Live Oak High School, from the urban limit line that surrounds most of the city to the St. John Episcopal Church that she helped found.
The vivacious Thomas, 92, died Sept. 23, and more than 300 friends and family members attended her funeral Sept. 29.
“She was women’s liberation before anyone really knew what that meant,” Father Philip Cooke told the crowd then.
Thomas was born outside Bakersfield in 1917. After graduating from University of California, Berkeley in 1940, Thomas accepted a position in Morgan Hill teaching history and physical education.
Teaching brought Thomas to Morgan Hill, and George Thomas Sr. kept her here. The two were married for 66 years, until his death in March 2008.
She enthusiastically helped out on the cattle ranch before their three children were born, and continued teaching at Live Oak to supplement the cattle ranch, son George Thomas said.
“She was a hard worker, a good mother and a great supporter of my father in agriculture,” he said.
Thomas started Live Oak’s counseling program in 1956. She retired from her post as head counselor in 1982.
Thomas Jr. described his mother as cordial.
“She didn’t tick people off. She was blunt, but she said it in such a way … She was very moderate, totally liberal on social issues and environmental issues but fiscally conservative.”
Former mayor Dennis Kennedy recalled getting phone calls from Thomas before council meetings.
“She would call me at any time and say, ‘Dennis, do you understand this?’ or ‘I think you should support or not support this.’ She was just tenacious and persistent.”
Thomas Jr. agreed.
“Most of the things she was involved with were lifelong causes,” he said, naming among them education, rural preservation, travel, the UC Berkeley Alumni Association and the Live Oak Foundation, which raises money for local school programs. The foundation has raised more than $1 million since it was created.
Thomas was also a member of the local chapter of the American Association of University Women, Santa Clara Cattlewomen, Delta Kappa Gamma, Morgan Hill Historical Society and Manzanita Easter Star.
She was named Morgan Hill’s Citizen of The Year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1985.
Thomas fought to preserve El Toro mountain and supported growth control in Morgan Hill, walking precincts to help get the city’s first growth control ordinance, Measure E, to pass in the 1970s.
“She collected several thousand signatures. This was at a time when Morgan Hill only had about 7,000 residents,” George Thomas Jr. said.
“There are people in the community that would do that to a certain extent, but as often and for as long as she did, I can’t think of anyone who was such a strong advocate and pushed so hard for the rural character (of Morgan Hill).”
Kennedy said Thomas’s impact on Morgan Hill was so great that he’d like to start a campaign to name a school after her late next year.
Thomas was survived by her children, Patricia Reinhart of Chico and Catherine Goodere and Gorge Thomas Jr., both of Morgan Hill.
Contributions in honor of Thomas can be made to the Live Oak Foundation, 30 Keystone Ave., Morgan Hill.
