Charles Thomas was born on August 7, 1937 in Detroit, Michigan. He was one of a set of triplets born to Hubert Jackson “Tige” Thomas and Vada Helena Wallace Thomas. Hubert operated an automobile body shop and was a native of Trigg County. Vada was a native of Dover, Tennessee. Charles was a descendant of Starkie Thomas.
Charles’ siblings were Carolyn Sue Thomas, born in 1934 and died at the age of 1 day; Billie Joe Thomas, born in 1935 and married Carolyn Raquel Williams; fellow triplets, Andrew Thomas, born in 1937 and married Frances Carol Bridges; Bruce Thomas, born in 1937 and married Joyce Ann P’Pool; and Dennis Glyn Thomas, born in 1944 and married Linda Dale Hancock.
Charles spent his first nine years growing up in Detroit, but moved to Trigg County, Kentucky in 1946, He enrolled in Trigg County High School where he was on the football team. He graduated with the class of 1956.
Charles along with his brothers Andrew and Bruce enlisted in the U.S Army together on February 18, 1959. They received their basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky and then were assigned to a unit at Fairbanks, Alaska. They were exceptionally recognized as the only set of triplets to be serving together in the army at that time. The triplets were discharged in February of 1961.
On May 23, 1958 Charles married Martha Ann Myers. Martha was born on August 16, 1939 in Webster County, Kentucky and was the daughter of Carvill H. Myers and Viola Mae McGraw Myers. Carvill worked for the water department in Dixon, Kentucky and both he and Viola were natives of Webster County, Kentucky.
Martha died unexpectedly at the age of 23 on September 7, 1962 at the Trigg County Hospital in Cadiz. She was buried in the Green Hill Memorial Gardens in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Charles married his second wife, Clara Ellen McKinney on April 23, 1965 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Ellen was born on September 19, 1942 in Bumpus Mills, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Jack Wilton McKinney and Edna Clare Scott McKinney. Jack was a farmer and a native of Trigg County. Edna was a native of Bumpus Mills, Tennessee.
After finishing school, Charles worked for his father in the Thomas Body Shop in Cadiz. In 1966, Charles began working for the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company. building water towers. This job required him to work in seven different states. He left this job and returned to Trigg County and built an auto body repair shop next to his dad’s body shop which he owned and operated for the rest of his life. Ellen worked as a secretary with the Cadiz Drywall Contractors from 1977 until her death.
Charles and Ellen were the parents of two children, Mitzi Lane Thomas, born in 1966 and married Michael Lynn Jones and later married Ronnie Lee Smith and Nick Charles Thomas, born in 1967 and married Dana Dunn Darnell.
Charles died on May 13, 1996 at the age of 58 at his home in Cadiz. He was buried in the Lucian Thomas Family Cemetery in Trigg County. Ellen died on September 22, 2020 at the age of 78 at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. She was buried in the Lucian Thomas Family Cemetery next to her husband.
The Thomas Triplets
Ellen Thomas
Charles and Ellen tombstone
LINEAGE: (Charles Thomas was the son of Hubert Jackson and Vada Helena Wallace Thomas. Hubert was the second child of Lucian M. and Inez B. Crews Thomas. Lucian was the fourth child of Jonathan Starkie and Julia Dyer Thomas. Jonathan was the third child of William Bridges and Nancy Jane Rogers Thomas. William was the first child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas. Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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