Jesse Raymond Thomas III, MD, passed away on January 12, 2019, in Dallas, Texas. Ray, as he was known, was born on September 17, 1951, in Tyler, Texas, to Jesse Raymond Thomas Jr. and Mary Ellen Crumpler Thomas. After graduating from Mt. Pleasant High School, he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Austin College in Sherman, Texas. He then graduated from UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, and completed a residency training program in dermatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He married Elizabeth Ann Black on June 26, 1976, at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas. They are the proud parents of three children and their two spouses; Amanda Elizabeth Thomas, Raymond Howard Thomas and his wife, Laura, Jessica Marianne Thomas Jones and her husband, Austin. Ray received constant delight from his five grandchildren: Caleb Raymond, Abigail Louise, Samuel Howard, Annaliza Ruth, Emily Rae. A sixth grandchild will be born on January 28, 2019, to son Ray and wife Laura.
Ray practiced dermatology in private practice for 33 years in Plano and Sherman, Texas. His philosophy was that everyone was entitled to good medical care and he followed that ideal during his entire practice by treating anyone in need. He also served on the board of trustees of Austin College for 13 years, chairing the academic affairs committee for many of those years.
He is survived by his loving wife, his children and their spouses, five grandchildren, a sister, Mineva Thomas Reichenstein and her husband, Bill, of Waco, Texas, sister-in-law, Virginia Black Thomason, of League City, Texas, two nephews, and two nieces.
Family and friends are invited to a Visitation at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Frisco on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A Funeral Service will be held at the funeral home on Thursday, January 17, 2019, beginning at 10:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Ridgeview West Memorial Park in Frisco.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 9, 2019, at Wynne Chapel on the Austin College campus in Sherman, Texas, at 2:00 p.m. followed by a reception in the Mabee Hall.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Jesse Raymond Thomas Endowed Scholarship at Austin College (www.austincollege.edu/giving or Austin College, 900 N. Grand Avenue, Sherman, Texas 75090) or to KCCure for kidney cancer research (1000 Dartmouth Road, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 or via its website, www.kccure.org).