Former Parliamentarian Austin Thomas Dies
Former Bermuda Parliamentarian Austin Thomas will be remembered as plain-spoken, principled and a relentless fighter for the causes and issues he held dear.
Mr. Thomas, who has died at the age of 77, served in both the Progressive Labour Party and National Liberal Party during a political career which lasted more than 20 years.
He was born on February 8, 1934, to the late Rev. Harold and Edith Thomas. His father was the pastor of Evening Light Pentecostal Church, and his mother was a licensed evangelist.
Mr. Thomas was not only raised in his church, he was almost literally born there – as his mother went into labour during a church service.
Mr. Thomas was educated at Central School, The Berkeley Institute, Howard University, and the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico.
When he returned to Bermuda, he became a teacher at the Prospect Secondary School for Girls.
He was an insurance executive, teacher, church choir director, deacon, and preacher.
He taught music at the Prospect Secondary School for Girls and he preached and taught Sunday School at the Evening Light Tabernacle on Parson’s Road in Pembroke.
He was an active and life-long member of the Berkeley Educational Society,
Mr. Thomas also served Bermuda in many other capacities. He was an executive member of the Bermuda Union of Teachers and later, president of the Amalgamated Bermuda Union of Teachers.
He also served as president of the Hamilton Lions Club; sat on the advisory committee of the Hospitals Charitable Trust, the Bermuda Advisory Council of World Vision, the Bermuda Council on Ageing; and the Lion’s Quest Programme. He was also chairman of the Berkeley Educational Society. In 1995 he was ordained an Elder of his church.
First elected to the House of Assembly in 1968 as a PLP MP, he was an early and outspoken champion of social justice and both desegregation and racial integration.
An ardent supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of a colour blind society, Mr. Thomas attended the slain American civil rights leader’s funeral in Atlanta in April, 1968. Prior to the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s assassination, he was one of a group of Bermudians who had approached Dr. King with the idea of him visiting Bermuda in the fall or winter of 1968 to speak at a multi-faith, multi-racial public meeting.
In August, 1984, as part of a group of dissident PLP members and Parliamentarians opposed to the continuing leadership of Dame Lois Browne Evans, the party’s Central Committee sought to bring MP Austin Thomas “to trial”.
The outcome of this internal PLP process was the eventual removal of Mr. Thomas and several other PLP members and Parliamentarians from the party.
This resulted in Mr Thomas eventually helping to form the National Liberal Party [NLP]. He ran for re-election under the new party’s banner and retained his seat in Pembroke East. He and Hamilton Parish Parliamentairan Gilbert Darrell were the only two NLP candidates elected in the October, 1985 General Election called on short notice by then Premier Sir John Swan.
Austin Thomas only held that seat until 1989. In that year’s General Election, he lost to the PLP challenger and future Health Minister, the late Nelson Bascome.
After losing his seat, Mr Thomas was relatively quiet on the national political scene. However, he was one of those persons who was seen to be celebrating when the PLP was first elected as Bermuda’s Government in 1998.
After a lengthy illness, Mr Thomas died this morning.
Premier Paula Cox expressed her sincere condolences to his family, saying “We often talked about Bermuda and Mr. Thomas signaled his willingness to work with me to help advance Bermuda,” she said. “When I was the Minister of Education and Development he served on the Berkeley Board of Governors and we liaised often.”
The Premier said that no one could doubt Mr. Thomas’ passion and conviction about seeing Bermuda become a just and equal society for all.
“He contributed much to the political scene and to the Bermudian society. Not only was he passionate about his politics –- he was also a man of faith and active in his church.
“The Government of Bermuda conveys our deepest sympathies to his beloved wife, Eula – whom he married nearly 49 years ago this August; his daughters: Renee and Selena and his grandchildren whom he cherished.” the Premier added.
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Bermuda has lost a giant of a man , Pembroke is so much poorer now that Mr.Thomas has gone on to his eternal riches . God bless him , he lived to the fullest and demanded the best out of those around him . My condolences to Renee and Family .
We will miss his intense observations on Bermuda and the world. He could debate and talk with the best. He was a man of faith and the people^^
This man set the standard for so many of us. For example, he was a devoted husband. An adoring father and grandfather. A loving brother, brother-in-law, uncle, and friend. You just knew, when in his presence, to conduct yourself with a degree of decorum. If not, he would give you the most withering of looks. You just did not want “the look”. His style of quiet, yet firm, discipline is so needed today. He raised up so many of us to be good people.
To a man who taught us all so much, and quietly supported and encouraged us through many trials and tribulations, we say thank you, we say farewell, and we say you are loved and admired.
I couldn’t have said it any better myself.
Went to the funeral. He would have had a kitten if he saw the Berkeley choir READING the words for the school song! Don’t they know it by heart? Come on Michelle Gabisi and students. Get some pride and learn the words, and sing them proudly. I cringed at the sight. You would have gotten ” the eye” from Elder T.