“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.” 

— Dan Rather

QUITMAN — For anyone who attended the Brooks County School System between the 1960s to 1990s, then you probably met Frank and Deloris Thomas along the way.

I met the Thomases as a freshman at Brooks County High School in 1994, taking classes with them both my first two years in high school. Mrs. Thomas was the first teacher to ever help me realize my love for English and for writing. Mr. Thomas taught me history and government.

To this day, I still remember the Articles of the Constitution and passages from “The Raven” and “The Road Not Taken.”

On June 12, the Thomases will celebrate 50 years of marriage, memories and love. That’s why I thought their story was one that should be told.

Beginnings

Frank Thomas was born in Brooks County and raised on a farm. He attended public school and was a football player, playing tackle which led him to a scholarship to Morris Brown College in Atlanta.

While he only played football in college for one year, his love of history led him to graduate with a B.A. in Social Studies with an emphasis in secondary education.

“History was a thing that just about everybody in my family (was interested in),” Mr. Thomas said. “Even my grandfather was good in history. At one time, he was the principal (at a school) here in Brooks County at the turn of the century and he had a great love of history.”

After graduation from Morris Brown, Thomas returned to South Georgia and taught one year in Lanier County before spending the next 36 years teaching in the Brooks County School System.

“I think I’ve touched the lives of quite a few students and some of those students have touched my life, too,” he said. “I shared in their celebration and their success, their sorrows.”

One of the most memorable experiences while teaching was meeting his future wife again, even though they knew each other before.

Deloris Thomas was born in Brooks County on Highway 84, east of Quitman. As the youngest of four children and the only girl in the family, she attended school at Monument Baptist Church. “At that time, it was used as a school and church,” Mrs. Thomas said.

“I would walk from where I lived on (Highway 84) to the church on Highway 94 from grades one through six. There was a little danger in it, but I wasn’t aware of it.”

A few years later, her principal was able to secure a bus for the children who lived in rural areas

 to ride to school.

Thomas graduated high school with honors and went on to attend Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Ala. She majored and graduated with a degree in secondary education, with a concentration in English.

“How I chose English is that from early childhood I would read the Bible,” she said. “My grandmother died of incurable cancer and she would ask me to read the Psalms 23 of David.”

Thomas’ mother also had a book called “Bible Stories,” which continued her love for the Bible and the stories that it held.

“I think that early reading pointed me and enlightened my imagination to go into English, which I did and love some of the great literature pieces like ‘MacBeth,’ ‘Othello’ and my favorite, ‘King Lear.’”

After graduation from Tuskegee, Thomas came back to Brooks County and met her future husband again at a PTA meeting.

“His friend and one of my friends were going on a date,” she said.

“They said ‘Why don’t you two go, you don’t have anything to do. Why don’t you two go with us?’ It turned from friendship to a love affair.”

Six months later, the two teachers were married where the future Mrs. Thomas was born and raised.

“His father had gone to Detroit,” she said. “On the way, when he was taking him to the bus station, he told him, ‘I might be married when you get back.’”

And they were.

Teaching the youth of Brooks County

The day after the Thomases were married, they woke early the next morning and headed for Albany State College to become certified to teach elementary students.

“We were working in elementary education and not on (the) high school level,” she said. “We had to become certified in elementary education so we went to Albany State and spent our honeymoon.”

After getting their certification for elementary education, the Thomases taught elementary school for several more years. Then the couple moved to junior high school under Robert Marshall, who is now retired.

“I was fortunate to teach a lot of children in the community,” she said. “That was the time of integration. During that time, there was a united effort on both parents of those children. They came to school and they were just as nice and respectable. They have enriched their lives as I have impacted theirs. One of the great joys I got from teaching was to spark the imagination of a child and for their eyes to light up. That did my heart all the good.”

One thing Mrs. Thomas always told her classes was to “stay on task,” while making a triangle with her fingers.

Some of her former students haven’t forgotten that.

“We were in Thomasville one time and there was a deputy sheriff there,” Mr. Thomas laughed. “He came up to us and was like ‘Are you Mrs. Thomas? Are you Mrs. Thomas that used to…’”

“I share in the enterprise of a child to adulthood,” Mrs. Thomas said. “I rejoice in their success. I rejoice in their celebrations. I rejoice when they just say ‘Thank you. You helped me.’ Or, “You have helped me or you are the reason I am what I have become.’ I just say ‘Thank you, Jesus’ for their success and I love them and admire them. I’m unable to personalize but there have been so many students.”

One of those former students paid tribute to the Thomases and a few of their former colleagues last year unexpectedly.

Last fall, while eating at Royal Buffet with several of their fellow retired Brooks County School System teachers, their meal was paid for by someone else.

“We were eating and before we were finished, the clerk came to tell us your meal is paid for,” Mrs. Thomas said. “A young man paid for all your meals, about $80 (in total). He said don’t tell them until I leave the restaurant because I don’t want them to know who I am, but all of them touched my life. That was such a blessing. He wanted his identity not known. That was his way of thanking his former teachers. We were most grateful.”

“He said that was the least he could do,” Mr. Thomas added.

Retirement

Since retiring from teaching full time in 1996, the Thomases have kept themselves busy.

They have two daughters, Valerie Thomas Bryant, an attorney in Valdosta, and Tenjurie Thomas, who works for a health-care provider in Lithonia.

In total, the Thomases have three grandchildren — a grandson who attends Valdosta High School and plays for the Wildcats, and two granddaughters: a 10-year-old and one who will start kindergarten soon.

They are also members of many boards and organizations. Both are members of the Brooks County Retired Teachers Organization. Mr. Thomas was president in 2007-2008 while Mrs. Thomas was president in 2008-2009.

“I’m a member of the Brooks County Board of Education,” Mr. Thomas said. “I’m a chairman on the zoning committee in Quitman and a member of the planning committee in Quitman.

At his church, Bethel AME Church in Quitman, he is a trustee, a steward, a member of the finance committee and a volunteer with the tutoring program.

Mrs. Thomas is the secretary and the first female steward at Bethel AME Church. She is also a member of the building fund, benevolence and finance committee. She’s a member of the AKA sorority and treasurer of the Brooks County Committee Democratic Party.

She also works as a substitute teacher when she is needed.

“I’m still on a sub list because I want to keep involved with students because I love students and I love knowledge,” she said.

During the 2008 presidential election, the Thomases were active in helping elect Barack Obama in Brooks County.

“We went from house to house and she called on the phone,” Mr. Thomas said. “I went to a house (and) I’ll never forget. This elderly white man came out and he told us, ‘I won’t lie to ya and say I’ll vote for Obama, but I’m a McCain man and I’m going to vote for him.’ He was so nice about it.”

Both were beyond excited when Obama won and planned a trip to Washington, D.C., for his inauguration with others from the community.

“I’d never seen a crowd so big in my life,” he said. “We couldn’t even see the president.”

Although the Thomases haven’t traveled a lot since retiring, they often travel to Atlanta and Savannah with several of their organizations.

 “Sometimes I’m as busy now as I was when I was working,” Mr. Thomas said. “About a month ago, I went to three or four meetings a day. I didn’t realize there was that much to do in Quitman (laughs).”

Above all, both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas know how lucky they are.

“We go through the same things as normal people,” Mrs. Thomas said. “We live and we have our ups and downs, but I consider myself wonderfully blessed.”