Alvin L. Thomas, Jr., long time Ponca City resident, died September 24, 2022 in Oklahoma City from complications related to congestive heart failure and other maladies of old age. Alvin was born July 29, 1924 in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Alvin Louis Thomas (Sr.) and Grace Lee Allen, the fourth of five sons. Shortly thereafter, the family moved to the High Plains of Texas, where his father farmed cotton in the difficult conditions of the 1920s and 30s near Cotton Center, Texas. It was a simple, difficult existence: a windmill filled a trough with water near the house, lighting was kerosene lamps, and the sanitary facilities were a few steps out the back door, until the 1960s. The family was nearly self sufficient, raising animals and tending a garden, in addition to growing cotton.

The hard working Thomas family had caught the eye of an attorney in nearby Plainview, Texas, future Texas Supreme Court Justice Meade Griffin. “Colonel” Griffin, as he came to be known, took the Thomas sons into his home, providing room, board, and a chance to attend school in town in exchange for the performance of miscellaneous chores around the Colonel’s house and church. At age 12, Alvin left his parents, and went to Plainview. While difficult for a youngster of that age to leave his parents, it gave Alvin an exposure to what was possible in the world for a bright, hard working young man. He did not waste the opportunity. In addition to his room and board chores, he worked at the local grocery, and had an 11 mile long paper route.

In Plainview, he completed high school, and met the love of his life, his future wife Joyce Casey (who predeceased him in 2005). Upon completion of high school, he moved on to Texas Tech. Funds were short (after he enrolled for his first semester, half his savings were gone), so he worked at a local grocery again, learned how to make mattresses, and washed dishes in one of the female dorms. (Alvin recounted that he was actually making money through his campus jobs by 1945.) His college studies had been interrupted by brief military service. He was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where his job was completing the paperwork for those being discharged after World War II. As Alvin recounted, “Once they figured out that I knew how to type, they wouldn’t let me do anything else.” In 1946, he was transferred to Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and Joyce returned to Plainview. He was discharged just in time to return to Texas for the birth of his son. He returned to Texas Tech in the fall of 1947, completing his chemical engineering degree.

Upon graduation, Alvin was hired by Continental Oil Company, with assignment to Ponca City. In 1948, Joyce and Alvin with their young son moved to Ponca City. Automobiles were difficult to obtain at the end of the war, but Colonel Griffin pulled some strings, and helped the family get a 1947 Plymouth, making life in Ponca City possible.

Except for a brief stint at Conoco facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana in the mid 1950s, Alvin worked his entire career until his 1985 retirement with Conoco in Ponca City. Not to say he was always in Ponca City – he had developed novel procedures for coke removal from boilers, and he traveled the world (England, Spain, Argentina, Japan, to name a few, and numerous locations in the United States) to supervise and train personnel in the procedures for his process.

After his 1985 retirement, Alvin remained an active member of Grace Episcopal Church, pursued the perfection of his golf game, and enjoyed the company of his grandchildren who lived in Oklahoma City but visited often. He lived in the family home on Virginia Avenue from 1958 until health considerations made in advisable for him to move to an assisted living facility at age 93.

Alvin is survived by his children, Alvin “III” and wife Dea Larson, of Houston, Texas; Ann Bridgewater and husband David of Oklahoma City; and Judy Thomas and husband John Alford of Bend, Oregon; four grandchildren, Tracy Hahn and husband Ken of Tuttle, Oklahoma; Todd Bridgewater and wife Laura of Edmond, Oklahoma; Sarah Thomas of Little Rock, Arkansas, and Casey Thomas of Little Rock, Arkansas; and great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren too numerous to name, all of whom miss him dearly.

A memorial service will be held Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 11 am at Grace Episcopal Church, Ponca City. Papa will be placed at rest next to his beloved wife Joyce at the Church.

No flowers, please. Memorial contributions honoring Alvin can be directed to RSVP of Ponca City (a counseling organization affiliated with the national Alzheimer’s Association), 445 Fairview Ave., Ponca City OK 74601-1931, or American Legion of Ponca City, PO Box 2102, Ponca City OK 74602.

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