Douglas Clark Thomas -- Tragically Died as an Infant

 

Douglas Clark Thomas

Douglas Clark Thomas was the infant child of Bill Clark and Ruth Aralee Douglas Thomas.  Douglas died at the age of 13 months, the victim of a tragic drowning accident.  Bill Clark Thomas grew up in Trigg County, Kentucky and was a graduate of Trigg County High School, Murray State University and had received his Doctorate of Theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in 1963. He and his wife Ruth were appointed as missionaries of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.  They served as missionaries during the following 34 years in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, West Germany, Thailand and France.

Douglas Clark was born on January 14, 1964 in Singapore, Malaysia. He had an older sister at the time of his birth.  Dorothy Lorene had been born in 1961 in Louisville, Kentucky before the family had moved to Malaysia.

The Thomases had been in Singapore only one and one half years on February 17, 1965 when Douglas drowned in a bathtub.  Water had been left in the tub after his sister’s bath and the Thomases' amah (the Malaysian term for a nanny) was busy in an adjoining room.  Douglas crawled into the tub and when the amah returned she discovered him dead in the tub.  The amah rushed next door where the Thomases were in a class learning the Chinese language, but it was too late to save the young infant.

The Thomases had to appear in court and ask that charges not be brought against the amah.  "We never once blamed her," Dr. Thomas said. "Douglas was a very active child, the most active one we had. It was an accident, something that should never have happened, but it did. There was no reason to blame anyone.”

Funeral services were held on February 18 in Singapore where Douglas was buried.  The Chinese congregation handled Douglas' funeral arrangements, an act "that set a pattern for the rest of our missionary career," Dr. Thomas later said.

A few months later, while still grieving Douglas’ death, Ruth learned she was pregnant. Fraternal twins, Cecilia Ruth and Charles William were born on May 22, 1966, 16 months after Douglas' death. "(Douglas') death and the coming of the twins always are linked in our minds, and are the most definite miracle we have experienced," Dr. Thomas said. "Their birth 16 months after Douglas' death was the most dramatic sign for our faith that we've ever had," Ruth Thomas said. A fifth child, Deborah Elizabeth was born in 1968.

On December 29, 2001, Douglas was reburied in the Starkie Thomas Cemetery in Trigg County, Kentucky. The cemetery in Malaysia was being reclaimed by the government and designated to be the site of high-rise apartments. Bill Clark and Ruth saw this as the opportunity to bring their son "home" to be placed in the cemetery with six generations of his father's family.

 

Tombstone of Douglas Clark Thomas

LINEAGE:  (Douglas Clark Thomas was the second child of Bill Clark and Ruth Aralee Douglas Thomas.  Bill Clark was the first child of Cecil Seldon and Dorothy Arlene Clark Thomas.  Cecil was the seventh child of Seldon Trimble and Martha Elizabeth Bridges Thomas.  Seldon was the first child of James Jasper and Mary Magdalene Cunningham Thomas.  James Jasper was the fourth child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)