December 2nd, 1933 - November 20th, 2019
Leonard Earl Thomas was born in South Dakota on December 2, 1933 to Gavin LeRoy and Anna (Pochop) Thomas. He was the youngest of five children. He always said the last thing his parents needed was another hungry mouth to feed during the depression. His family moved to Plainview, Nebraska when Leonard was 2. He grew up in Plainview and lettered in many sports. He was given the nickname “Small but mighty” in high school. He started playing golf at age 12 and later played on the Hastings College golf team. He once carried a 1 stroke handicap and has won many golf tournaments over the years.
After serving in the Army, he moved to southern California and became a member of the Industrial Carpenter’s Union. After moving north to Belmont, he co-owned Nelson Adams Company, which manufactured chalk and tack boards for schools and churches. Leonard lived in Belmont for 20 years. He was a member of San Mateo Municipal Golf (now Poplar Creek) for 30 years. He became a member of Sequoia Woods Country Club in Arnold in 1978.
Leonard met his wife Melba at Sequoia Woods Country Club in 1989. Melba and Leonard married August 31, 1990 in Stockton. In 1992 Leonard retired and they moved to Arnold. Together, they had residences in both Arnold and the Palm Springs area, where they also belonged to Monterey Country Club. They moved from Arnold to Lockeford in 2013 and then to Lodi in 2018. Leonard joined Grace Point Church in 2016. Shortly after moving to Lodi, Leonard was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Leonard was a skilled carpenter and house painter and remodeled and improved several homes. He loved working with his hands. His hobby was making wine cork birdhouses for many of his friends and family. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather. He was known as Papa to most of his grandchildren.
Leonard is survived by his wife Melba of Lodi, daughter Lenell Oneto of Murphys, step-children Herbert Vochatzer and Liz (David) Thompson, both of Stockton and Susan (Kelley) Grimmett of Redding, and nine grandchildren: Cole Thomas of Indio; Jessica (Shaun) Glass of Hawaii; John Wesley Vochatzer of San Francisco;. Michael Vochatzer of Stockton; Sarah Grimmett of Manteca; Laura (Clinton) Hash of Lodi, Trevor Schmid of Petaluma; Terra Schmid of Palm Desert; Tricia Schmid of Rancho Cordova.
VISITATION
A visitation will be held on Friday, November 29th, 2019 from 4:00p.m. to 8:00p.m. at the Vineyard Chapel in Cherokee Memorial Park, located at 14165 N. Beckman Road, Lodi CA, 95240.
SERVICE
A service will be held the following day on Saturday, November 30th, 2019 at 10:00a.m. at the Evergreen Chapel in Cherokee Memorial Park, located off of Highway 99 at Harney Lane, Lodi CA, 95240.
Cherokee Memorial is honored to serve the Thomas family.
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