Jon A. Thomas: July 8, 2018
Published 2:42 pm Tuesday, July 10, 2018
PLAINS — Mr. Jon Allan Thomas, age 83, passed away on Sunday morning, July 8, 2018, at his home in Plains.
Born March 18, 1935 in Pittsburgh, Pa., he was a son of the late John Reuben Thomas and the late Dorothy Rose Oehling Thomas. He graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, and later from GMI (General Motors Institute), now Kettering University. He was a veteran of the United States Navy, and was a 59-year member, since 1959, of the Free and Accepted Masons. His most recent membership was at the Dawson Lodge No. 68 in Social Circle, Ga. He was also a Shriner. Jon was a successful entrepreneur in many endeavors. He was in the hospitality business in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and in Ellijay, Ga., built a water bottling plant in Antigua, West Indies, and
worked for the Rockefellers at Caneel Bay in St. John, where he captained a water yacht carrying passengers back and forth. He was retired as an executive with Mercedes-Benz, and later worked with Lyndal Cedar Homes out of Seattle, Wash., and built log homes and managed property in and around Ellijay, Ga.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents: August Oehling and Rose Miller Oehling; paternal grandparents: the Rev. Thomas Bennett Thomas and Lida Taylor Thomas; brother, Tommy Thomas; and parents-in-law, Fred N. Bunzendahl and Frances Bentley Bunzendahl. Of special interest, Jon’s great-great uncle was U.S. President Zachary Taylor.
Survivors include his wife, Suzanne Bunzendahl Hendrickson-Thomas of Plains; daughter, Tammy Donnelly and her husband Jeff of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands; stepdaughter, Amanda Anne Fitzgerald and her husband Larry of Social Circle, Ga.; stepsons: Shane Hendrickson and his wife Valerie of Monroe, and Christopher Hendrickson; special former daughter-in-law, Kelly Kinslow of Americus; grandchildren: Valerie Tarr and her husband Dane of St. John, Zachary Trahan of Cupertino, Calif., Scott Fitzgerald of Charlotte, N.C., Ryan Fitzgerald of Social Circle, Alison Anne Fitzgerald of Social Circle, Kyle Hendrickson and his wife Haley of Sheridan, Wyo., Clay Hendrickson of Brunswick, and Katie Hendrickson Tondee and her husband Josh of Americus;
great-grandchildren: Eve Marie Hendrickson of Sheridan, Wyo., Tyner Glen Tondee of Americus, and Millie Rose Hendrickson of Brunswick; sister, Karen Williams and her husband Dr. Bob Williams of Towson, Md.; sister-in-law, Lois Thomas of West Chester, Pa.; sister-in-law, Judy House and her husband Steve of Crawfordsville, Ind.; brother-in-law, Fred “Butch” Bunzendahl and his wife Sue of Connersville, Ind.; and several nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
To sign our online guestbook and express your condolences, please visit www.hancockfuneralhomeinc.com
Hancock Funeral Home, 427 S. Lee St., is honored to be entrusted with these arrangements for Mr. Jon Allan Thomas.