[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE MEMORY OF MRS. LANCIE M. THOMAS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 12, 2005

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, Mobile County and indeed the entire State of 
Alabama recently lost a dear friend, and I rise today to honor her and 
pay tribute to her memory. Mrs. Lancie B. Thomas was a devoted family 
woman and a pioneer in the Alabama publishing community.
  A native of Beatrice, Alabama, Mrs. Thomas attended the Monroe County 
Training School, Tuskegee University, and Alabama State University, and 
following her education she worked for many years as a home economics 
teacher in the Tuscaloosa County school system. Upon leaving the 
teaching profession, she began to assist her husband, the late Frank 
Thomas, with the building of several newspapers throughout the state of 
Alabama. These included the Selma (Alabama) Citizen, the Alabama 
Citizen in Tuscaloosa, and the Mobile Weekly Review. The Weekly Review, 
started in 1943, had its named changed to the Beacon in 1954 and has 
continued operations to the present day. During her long newspaper 
career, Mrs. Thomas worked in a variety of positions in the family's 
newspaper business, including those of vice president, secretary, and 
treasurer. She eventually became the editor and publisher of the Beacon 
and continued in that position until her retirement as publisher 
emeritus in 1997.
  Even with her numerous professional obligations, Mrs. Thomas also 
found time to involve herself in several Mobile community organizations 
and other causes which had an impact on the local, state, and federal 
levels. Beginning in the 1940s, she was involved in voter registration 
efforts throughout Alabama and became involved in numerous political, 
social, and religious organizations throughout the United States. She 
was instrumental in the formation of Mobile's Hillsdale Presbyterian 
Church and served as one of that parish's founding elders, as well as 
devoting significant time to attending to the needs of the 
congregation, both young and old alike. Mrs. Thomas served as the vice 
president of the Presbyterian Woman of South Alabama and was in 1988 
selected to represent south Alabama at the Bicentennial Celebration of 
the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A.
  She was also a member of the Alabama Press Association, the National 
Newspaper Publishers Association, the Greater Mobile Area Chamber of 
Commerce, the Advertising Federation of Greater Mobile, the South 
Alabama Region Planning Committee, the Mobile Mental Health Center, the 
Drug and Alcohol Council, and the Better Business Bureau.
  Notwithstanding her significant professional accomplishments, Mrs. 
Thomas was also recognized on numerous occasions for her impact on her 
community and on the African-American population in Alabama and across 
the country. She was honored by the Alabama Press Association for 
lifetime achievement, and in 1974 was honored by the National Council 
of Negro Women for her professional accomplishments. Additionally, the 
NAACP recognized her efforts nationally in 1998, and she is the first 
African-American to be inducted into Auburn University's Hall of Honor. 
She has also been recognized by the City of Mobile, the Mobile County 
Commission, and such organizations as the Drug Education Council, the 
American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Alabama Department of 
Industrial Relations, and the National Newspaper Publishers 
Association.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering a 
dedicated community leader and friend to many throughout south Alabama. 
Throughout her life, Lancie Thomas set a standard of excellence in the 
newspaper business second to none. More importantly, however, she set a 
standard of excellence in her achievements specifically on behalf of 
the American-American community, but also for the entire City of 
Mobile, her State, and her Nation. She will be deeply missed by her 
family--her daughter, Cleretta Thomas Blackmon, her stepdaughter, 
Audrey Thomas, her siblings, Alberta B. Ford, Robert Black, Ruth B. 
Jefferson, Jency B. Mitchell, Alexander Black, Bennye B. Reasor, and 
Rufus Black, and her grandchildren--as well as the countless friends 
she leaves behind. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all at this 
difficult time.

                          ____________________