HOLLAND (WHTC) — Family and friends will gather at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, in Calvary Reformed Church to remember Judyth Mary Thomas. The 72-year-old died suddenly on Jan. 28.
Thomas cofounded Ladder Homes with friends Eleanor Brunsell and Gretchen Nale to help people with mental illness find decent housing and support for managing their illnesses. Ladder Homes also helps people find steady jobs.
Nale said no one ever met Judy Thomas without feeling they’d found a life-long friend. Thomas was devastated when her son Jon took his own life in 1991, as she was trying so hard to help him. Her friends came from as far as Ohio to help her through months of grief.
This year, Thomas would have planned Ladder’s 25th anniversary and raised money for another small Ladder apartment building.
The former English teacher with a master’s in theology from Western Theological Seminary, worked at Hope College and influenced others with her friendly ways, Nale said.
“I learned to be a little gentler,” said Nale. “I can be more of a go-getter and that fire in the belly is good, but if you get too intense, it can hide the warmth in your heart and, with Judy, … that never happened with Judy.”
Memorial contributions may be made to Ladder Homes, P.O. Box 1021, Holland, MI, 49422-1021.
— Peg McNichol
