Billie Joe Thomas was born on November 17, 1935 in Trigg County, Kentucky. He was the second of six children 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. Billie Joe was a descendant of Starkie Thomas.
Billie Joe’s siblings were Carolyn Sue Thomas, born in 1934 and died at the age of 1 day; triplets Andrew Thomas, born in 1937 and married Frances Carol Bridges; Bruce Thomas, born in 1937 and married Joyce Ann P’Pool; Charles Thomas, born in 1937 and married Martha Ann Myers and later married Clara Ellen McKinney; and Dennis Glyn Thomas, born in 1944 and married Linda Dale Hancock.
Billie Joe grew up in Trigg County and went to the local elementary schools, He graduated from Trigg County High School in 1955. In high school, he played the drums in the school band and also played football for four years. He attended Murray State University for one year and then entered the U.S. Army in 1956.
On September 8, 1959, he married Carolyn Raquel Williams in Princeton, Kentucky. Raquel was born on March 17, 1940 in Princeton, the daughter of Byron Dempsey Williams and Mildred Norman Greer Williams. Byron was a garage operator and both he and Mildred were natives of Caldwell County. Raquel graduated from Princeton High School and went on to graduate from the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana.
After completing a two-year tour of duty with the U.S. Army in 1958. Billie Joe re-entered the Army in July 1959. He served two tours of duty in Korea, the first in October 1962 and the second in July 1966. He also served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Billie Joe, Raquel and his family lived in Leominster, Massachusetts until he retired from the military in 1977 as a Sergeant. The family then relocated back to Princeton, where Billie Joe received training in the art of woodworking at the Princeton Vocational School. He also owned and operated a farm near Dawson Springs, Kentucky that had once been the home of Raquel’s grandparents. Beginning in 1978, Raquel worked as a registered nurse at the Caldwell County Hospital. After their retirement, Billie Joe and Raquel moved to Colo, Iowa which was near the home of their daughter, Barbara.
Billie Joe and Raquel were the parents of three children, Barbara Jo Thomas, born in 1960 and married Russell Alvin Brown and then married Robert Laurence Fears, Jr.; Beth Ann Thomas, born in 1964 and married Timothy Karmen Faul; and Brian Keith Thomas, born in 1966 and married Debra Ann Bratcher.
Raquel died on January 16, 2015 at the age of 74 in Ames, Iowa. She was buried in the Lucian Thomas Family Cemetery in Trigg County. Billie Joe died on May 14, 2020 at the age of 84 in Ames, Iowa. He was buried in the Lucian Thomas Family Cemetery next to his wife.
Raquel Williams Thomas
Billie tombstone
Raquel tombstone
LINEAGE: (Billie Joe 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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