Funeral service: Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Miles City.
Interment: will follow in the family lot of the Custer County Cemetery.
Johnnie Lou Lockett Thomas, age 75, of Miles City joined her late husband Bill Bunky Thomas on Thursday, January 31st.
Johnnie was born in Talladega, Alabama, and grew up in Tuskegee, AL, until she left for Drake University. There she became the first African-American student to live in a dormitory. After earning a bachelor of fine arts degree, she returned to Tuskegee to pursue a Masters in Speech Therapy; where she met her future husband, Bunky, on a blind date.
They went on to live in Europe, where her son Eric was born, and then California, where daughters Rebecca and Jennifer were born. Johnnie raised children, typed Bills college papers, and helped jump start Bunkys career. Later they were transferred to Maryland, Connecticut, and California before finally landing in New Jersey.
Johnnie loved to travel, and as a couple, she and Bill went to Russia, Australia/New Zealand, Trinidad/Tobago, and cruised Alaska with friends. After Bills death, Johnnie continued to travel from the South of France and Italy, to Hong Kong, Korea and Indone'sia. In 2006, she got the idea of bringing live jazz to Miles City, where the annual Johnnie Thomas Wake was born.
Miles City was an important part of Johnnies life, especially because of the warm reception she received after her husband's death. She was an active supporter of the Custer County Arts and Heritage Center. An invited speaker through the Montana Speakers Bureau, she received the 2007 Montana Governors Humanities Award. Her dynamic zest for life and ability to see the humor and positives in tough situations caught the eye of PBS, the New Yorker, and many prominent media after she was put on the FBI no fly list. She made that folly into adventure.
After her cancer diagnosis, she authored the book, Saints and Sinners and had been working on her second book,Growing Up Black In Montana. She lived every day to the fullest, seldom complained in the face of adversity, and had a knack for meeting people wherever she went. Never shy with a quip or comment, she benefited from the kindness of a town that cared deeply for her and she made it clear she wanted her life celebrated, not her death mourned.
Johnnie made her childrens lives an intimate part of her profession, whether it was taking them door to door in Watts canvassing for candidates, playing Wanda the Reading Witch at Avalon Gardens Elementary School, leading a Brownie troop, or playing the part of Ines in the Jean-Paul Sartre's play No Exit. A never-ending and tireless fighter for justice, she never backed down from a fight and often devised elegant solutions to the problems she, her husband, and her children faced. Indeed, she finally triumphed in her conflict with our federal government over her right to travel through our country. While she will be missed, she will serve as an inspiration to many of us for the remainder of our lives.
Johnnie Lockett Thomas is survived by her brother, John Wesley Lockett; children EricBroveaur Thomas and his wife Andrea Tilden, Rebecca Thomas Geary, Jennifer Kathleen Brent and her husband Michael Brent; grandchildren Simone and Sabine Geary, William Thomas, and OliviaBenissan; and Bunkys Aunt Miss Mary, my caregiver Moore.
Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.stevensonandsons.com.
In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Custer County Arts and Heritage Center Endowment, P.O. Box 1284 Waterplant Road, Miles City, MT. 59301
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