Patsy L. (Broadway) Thomas, 88, of Red Bud, formerly of Hillsboro, died on Aug. 10, 2024, at Fairview Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Du Quoin.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at the Aikins-Farmer-Loftus-McManus Funeral Home in Metropolis, with the Rev. Scott Harner officiating. Burial will follow in the Metropolis Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., also at the funeral home.
Mrs. Thomas was born on June 7, 1936, in Metropolis, to Glen and Mary Broadway. She grew up in southern Illinois surrounded by a close-knit extended family and from that time on family was the focus of her life. She graduated Draughon’s business college in 1955 and worked at the Good Luck Glove Company in Metropolis until she married Harold Thomas on April 2, 1961. He preceded her in death in 2013.
The couple moved to Hillsboro in 1965 for Mr. Thomas to work at Coffeen Power Plant. All who entered the Thomas home were welcomed as family and usually fed. Mrs. Thomas was a wonderful cook and was famous at Calvary Baptist Church for her pot roasts. For many years she was in charge of the live nativity production put on by Calvary.
She was an avid reader who loved learning, and she passed on her curiosity and love for learning to her daughters and grandchildren. She was always a teacher, teaching Sunday school, Bible school and Bible Study Fellowship classes. Mrs. Thomas enjoyed working at Hillsboro Nursing Home and keeping the books for Jo’s Mini Storage which she ran with her husband. In 2019, she moved to Red Bud to be closer to her daughters.
Above all, Mrs. Thomas loved Jesus and continued to serve him even as dementia stole other parts of her awareness.
She was preceded in death by her parents and husband; her brother, Dale Broadway; sister and brother-in-law, Bonita and Bill House; and her stepdaughter, Cindy Koester.
Mrs. Thomas is survived by her daughters, Ellen (Bruce) Burk and Anita Jo (Greg) Berner; grandchildren, Corey Simpson, Brette Simpson, Joshua Burk and Dan Burk as well as bonus grandchildren, Nicolette (Milton) Jones and James (Felicia) Burk; great-grandchildren, Jeremiah Jones and Miles Burk; sisters-in-law, Jan Broadway and Peggy Livingston; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Memorials may be made in Mrs. Thomas’ name to Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc., 912 Killian Hill Road SW, Lilburn, GA 30047 or Red Bud Bible Church, 1445 W. Market Street, Red Bud, IL 62278. Online condolences may be made at www.aikinsfarmer-millerfh.com
