Sam B. Thomas, Sr. was a Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 educator who served from January 1972 until December 1986 as a Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 member of the Kentucky House of Representatives

Kentucky House of Representatives

The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...

 from Lebanon

Lebanon, Kentucky

Lebanon is a city in Marion County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 6,331 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Marion County. Lebanon is located in central Kentucky, southeast of Louisville. A national cemetery is located nearby....

, the seat of Marion County

Marion County, Kentucky

As of the census of 2000, there were 18,212 people, 6,613 households, and 4,754 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 7,277 housing units at an average density of...

.

Biography

He was born in Marion County, Kentucky as one of four children of Francis Xavier Thomas I and Mary Isabelle Hill. His siblings were Sue Clements Thomas, Sadie Thomas Smith, and Francis Xavier Thomas II. Thomas married Marian Tong (born ca. 1933) of Lebanon. Two sons and two daughters were born to the marriage: Sam B. Thomas, Jr., Douglas P. Thomas, Karen T. Lentz, and Patti T. Smith. Thomas graduated from Roman Catholic St. Augustine High School in Lebanon and then the University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

 at Lexington

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

. In addition to his classroom duties, Thomas was a basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 coach at Saint Francis High School in Loretto

Loretto, Kentucky

Loretto is a city in Marion County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 623 at the 2000 census. The tiny city is best known as the home of the Maker's Mark bourbon distillery.-Geography:Loretto is located at ....

 in Marion County. He coached football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 at St. Charles Middle School in Lebanon. He also coached the Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...

 community league in Lebanon.

Thomas served in the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

's 24th Infantry Division during and after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. As part of the post-War occupation of Japan the 24th Infantry Division was based at Sendai, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. While there, Thomas coached the basketball team in his camp, winning runners-up status in the Far East Command Olympic Games

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 trial competition.

On November 4, 1969, Thomas lost the general election

General election

In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

 for the District 29 seat in the Kentucky House to the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Herman W. Rattliff

Herman Rattliff

Herman Willard Rattliff is a retired businessman from Campbellsville, Kentucky, who served from 1968-1986 as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He authored the Rattliff-Ward Textbook Act of 1976....

 (born 1926), a businessman from Campbellsville

Campbellsville, Kentucky

Campbellsville is a city in Taylor County, Kentucky, United States. The population within city limits was 10,498 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Taylor County, and the home of Campbellsville University...

, the seat of Taylor County

Taylor County, Kentucky

Taylor County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of 2000, the population was 22,927. Its county seat is Campbellsville. The county is named for President Zachary Taylor, who served from 1849 to 1850. Taylor is a moist county...

 in central Kentucky.

After redistricting

Redistricting

Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries, often in response to population changes determined by the results of the decennial census. In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to...

, Thomas won the revised District 24 seat, including Marion and LaRue

LaRue County, Kentucky

LaRue County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is included in the Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 13,373. Its county seat is Hodgenville...

 counties, in the general election held on November 2, 1971. Rattliff, a native of Green County

Green County, Kentucky

Green County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1793. As of 2000, the population was 11,518. Its county seat is Greensburg. The county is named for Nathanael Greene...

, won a third term that year in District 51. Thomas and Rattliff were thereafer House colleagues until each retired at the same time.

During his legislative service, he was the chairman for eight years of the Business Organizations and Professions Committee. After his seventeen legislative years, Thomas spent another eighteen years as a lobbyist at the Kentucky state capital in Frankfort

Frankfort, Kentucky

Frankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...

. Among his clients were Wine and Spirits Wholesales of Kentucky, Inc., of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

. Thomas died at age 82.