Richard Van Thomas was a member of the Wyoming Supreme Court

Wyoming Supreme Court

The Wyoming Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Wyoming for an eight-year term. The five Justices select the Chief Justice from amongst themselves. The person...

, having served from December 1974 until his retirement in February 2001. From 1985–1986, he was chief justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Wyoming high court.

Background

Thomas was born to John W. and Gertrude M. Thomas in Superior

Superior, Wyoming

Superior is a town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 244 at the 2000 census.-Notable people:*Former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Richard V...

, a small town in Sweetwater County in southwestern Wyoming, and reared in Lingle

Lingle, Wyoming

Lingle is a town in Goshen County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 510 at the 2000 census.Former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Richard V...

 in Goshen County in southeastern Wyoming. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Wyoming

University of Wyoming

The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...

 at Laramie

Laramie, Wyoming

Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....

. He procured a Master of Laws

Master of Laws

The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...

 at New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, with emphasis in tax law. On July 31, 1956, he was admitted to the Wyoming bar. For three years, he was Judge Advocate General

Judge Advocate General

In the United Kingdom, the Judge Advocate General and Judge Martial of all the Forces is a judge responsible for the court martial process within the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.-Qualifications:...

 at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...

.

From 1959 to 1969, he was then a partner in the firm Hirst, Applegate & Thomas until US President Richard M. Nixon appointed him as United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

 based in Cheyenne. In 1974, outgoing Governor Stanley K. Hathaway

Stanley K. Hathaway

Stanley Knapp Hathaway served as 27th Governor of Wyoming from 1967–1975, and as United States Secretary of the Interior under President Gerald R. Ford.- Early life and military service :Stanley K...

 appointed Thomas to a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Thus began a career of more than 25 years on the court.

Community affairs

Thomas was active in civic and community affairs, including the Masonic lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

, the Cheyenne Kiwanis International, and the United Way of Laramie County

Laramie County, Wyoming

Laramie County is the most populous of the 23 counties of the U.S. state of Wyoming. The county is located in the southeastern corner of the state. The county's population was 91,738 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Cheyenne, the state capital...

. He was a member of the Wyoming Bar Association and the Order of the Coif

Order of the Coif

The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. A student at an American law school who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top 10 percent of his or her class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the...

 at the University of Wyoming School of Law. He was particularly active in the Boy Scouts of America

Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...

, having served in leadership of the Long's Peak and national scout councils.

Thomas was an avid reader of crime novels and a fly fisherman as well, often heading to Rawlins

Rawlins, Wyoming

Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,538 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County...

 and the North Platte River

North Platte River

The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...

 on fishing trips.

Death and legacy

Thomas and his second wife, the former Mary Elizabeth Lewallen, retired to Rio Rancho

Rio Rancho, New Mexico

There were 18,995 households out of which 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.9% had...

, New Mexico. He died in nearby Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

 at the age of seventy-seven. In addition to his wife, he was survived by three daughters, Tara Thomas of Overland Park

Overland Park, Kansas

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 149,080 people, 59,703 households, and 39,702 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,627.0 people per square mile . There were 62,586 housing units at an average density of 1,102.9 per square mile...

, Kansas, Laura Bradley and husband Lawrence of Tacoma

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

, Washington, and Sidney Hardgrave and husband Jason of Newburgh

Newburgh, Indiana

Newburgh is a town in Ohio Township, Warrick County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,325 at the 2010 census, which also recorded a population of 342,815 for the entire Evansville metropolitan area.-Geography:...

, Indiana; a son, Richard R. Thomas and wife Susan of Denver

Denver, Colorado

The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...

, Colorado; a sister, Verlee T. Wise of Escondido

Escondido, California

Escondido is a city occupying a shallow valley ringed by rocky hills, just north of the city of San Diego, California. Founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. The city had a population of 143,911 at the 2010 census. Its municipal government set itself an operating...

, California; three stepchildren, Matthew, Andrea, and Patrick, and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service was held on September 18, 2010, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church

Episcopal Church (United States)

The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

 in Cheyenne, where Thomas had been for many years an active lay eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

ic minister. Interment followed in Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne.

Justice Michael Golden

Michael Golden (judge)

-Biography:Michael Golden was born in 1942. In high school, he played American League baseball with Dick Cheney in Casper, Wyoming. He received a B.A. in 1964 and a J.D. in 1967, both from the University of Wyoming. In 1992, he received an LLM from the University of Virginia Law School.He served in...

, who has served on the Wyoming high court since 1988, said that Thomas was "one of the more cerebral justices this court has ever seen," having applied his intellect to every kind of case that came before the body. Golden describes Thomas as "congenial and hardworking" and especially willing to assist younger members of the court.