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Frederick and Daphne Thomas

Credit: Adventist Review. May 12, 2016. Accessed October 14, 2025. https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/. 

Thomas, Frederick George (1926–2016)

By Sabrina Riley

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Sabrina Riley was born in Auburn, New York and raised in Dowagiac, Michigan. She received a B.A. in history from Andrews University and an M.A. in information and libraries studies from the University of Michigan. Riley was a member of Andrews University’s library staff from 1998 to 2003, library director and college archivist at Union College from 2003 to 2016, and is presently a freelance researcher, author, and information professional.

 

First Published: November 11, 2025

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Frederick George Thomas was a Seventh-day Adventist minister, missionary, and church administrator.

Early Life

Frederick George Thomas, known as Fred, was born on April 3, 1926, at the Kendu Mission Hospital in Kenya to Frederick Herbert Thomas (1899-1987)1 and Florence Beatrice Norris (1901-1996).2 His younger brothers included Donald Herbert (a missionary in Congo and southern Africa), Kenneth E. (missionary teacher in Zambia and later math professor at Andrews University), and Mervyn (a businessman in Australia). Their parents were career missionaries who arrived in East Africa in 1924 from Great Britain. Frederick was superintendent of the South Kavirondo Press at the time of his eldest son’s birth.3 Over the span of his forty-two-year career, he served as president or superintendent of the Gendia Mission, the Tanganyika Union, and Rhodesia's Midland Mission. He was also manager of Helderberg College, and finally secretary-treasurer of the Congo Union Mission.4 Thus Fred G. Thomas was a second-generation missionary, raised in a mission environment. He was baptized on April 3, 1943.5

Education and Family

Thomas was sent to England for his early education from 1934 to 1939,6 during which time he did not see his parents. He lived with his grandmother while he attended the Stanborough Park School. He returned to Africa as a teenager, attending Prince of Wales High School in Nairobi, Kenya, and then Helderberg College in South Africa where he took the theological-normal training course. Thomas graduated from Helderberg College in 1948.7 He later returned to Helderberg College to complete a bachelor’s degree in 1956.8 In 1961, he received a Master of Arts degree in religion from Andrews University.9

While at Helderberg College, Thomas met Daphne Jean Hepburn, a home economics major. They were married in 1948. Their children included Fred Jr., David, John, and Peter.10

Early Career

Thomas’ first mission assignment was the construction of Yuka Adventist Mission Hospital in Barotseland (then located in southwestern Northern Rhodesia, now western Zambia) in the Zambesi Union Mission. It was a remote area where the bricks had to be manufactured on site by native workers. He was also responsible for transporting other supplies 500 miles up the Zambesi River from the city of Livingstone. Thomas with his young wife and six-month-old son lived in a mud hut until the hospital building sufficiently progressed to provide them shelter. During this time, Thomas also assumed responsibility for the Liumba Hill Mission Station, twelve miles from the hospital, after George Albert Cary Ellingworth (1917-1952) was moved to Chimpempe Mission Station in 1950. An important part of the work in Liumba Hill Mission was serving a leper colony. In 1953, a number of people from the colony were included among those baptized by Thomas.11

While at Yuka Thomas learned the local language, a practice he continued throughout his time in Africa. As a result, he became fluent in Luo, Lozi, Swahili, and Ekegusii, and acquired some proficiency in Xhosa.12 This skill enabled Thomas, when General Conference undersecretary, to greet many delegates at the 1988 Annual Council, held in Kenya, in their own languages much to their delight.13

In 1953 the family moved to Mongu, Northern Rhodesia, the headquarters of the Barotseland Mission Field where Thomas was promoted to field president. Thomas was ordained on September 14, 1953, in Mongu.14 According to family lore, the Zambesi Union president and treasurer appeared at the Thomas home unannounced. They informed Fred Thomas that as a field president he was required to be ordained and immediately proceeded with a brief, impromptu ceremony on the Thomas’ front porch. The union president and treasurer then got back in their car and drove away.15 

Following graduation from Helderberg College in 1956, Thomas became president of the South Kenya Mission headquartered in Kissi, Kenya.16 During his tenure he initiated work among the Masai tribe.17 In 1962, Thomas became president of the Tanganyika Union Mission.18 Jean served as secretary of the Home Commission.

In 1966 Thomas became president of the Zambesi Union.19 Under his leadership medical and educational work expanded. The Mwami Hospital was transferred to the Zambesi Union and two flying doctor services were started—"one in Botswana in connection with Kanye Hospital and the other in Zambia as part of the Trans-Africa Leprosy and Rehabilitation Service of Seventh-day Adventists (TALRES). Both planes have been made available through donations from private individuals and the support of the Trans-Africa Division”20 Public evangelism was held in all of the large metropolitan centers and there was growing interest among lay members to participate in evangelism. The Zambesi General Field was organized in January 1969, and the Inyazura Secondary School became a Zambezi Union institution that same month.

Move to the United States

While the Thomas family members were citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, they had lived most off their lives moving around Africa. No particular place felt like home. Thus, they chose to settle in the United States when they sought educational opportunities for their four sons. In 1971 Thomas joined the Atlantic Union Conference where he pastored three churches, one of which was the village church in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. He became secretary and general manager of the Christian Record Braille Foundation in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1974.21

In 1977, Thomas and his wife moved to Lebanon where he became secretary of the Afro-Mideast Division.22 In this position he was part of committee that developed the University of Eastern Africa Baraton campus in 1979.23 Thomas requested permanent return from the Afro-Mideast Division in 1981.24 It was sometime after 1981 that Fred and Jean Thomas became naturalized citizens of the United States.25

Upon return to the United States, Thomas briefly served the Ohio Conference as assistant treasurer,26 and then became president of the Pennsylvania Conference in 1982.27 Jean worked as a secretary in the conference office. Under Thomas’ leadership, the Pennsylvania Conference was able to eliminate its debt, although it was accomplished through such uncomfortable means as staff cuts and three years of frozen salaries. By 1985 the conference was able to increase evangelistic programming.28

At the 1985 General Conference session in New Orleans, Louisiana, Thomas was elected North American Division secretary and associate secretary of the General Conference.29 He was promoted to General Conference undersecretary in 1987, replacing David Baasch who passed away unexpectedly.30 This was the same year the General Conference made concerted effort to ensure that women were represented on General Conference committees. Jean Thomas served on the committee for South Africa Affairs.31

As undersecretary, Thomas traveled a great deal. In 1988 alone, he visited the Southern Asia Division where he attended mid-year meetings,32 was part of team that surveyed the Colombia-Venezuela and Franco-Haitian unions,33 and attended the year-end meetings in South Africa.34 In 1989, Thomas made an extended trip that include stops at Newbold College in the United Kingdom and an extended tour of Africa. He also attended the Africa-Indian Ocean Division year-end meeting.35

Later Life and Death

Although Fred and Jean Thomas retired in 1992 and settled in Burleson, Texas, they remained active in ministry and the community. Thomas worked part time for the Southwestern Union and served Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) as interim president form August 29, 2001 to February 28, 2002. SWAU presented him with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 2006. Thomas taught a Sabbath School class and drove the school bus for Burton Adventist Academy until he was eighty years old. At the age of ninety, illness finally curtailed his ability to serve. Thomas died on May 6, 2016, in Burleson, Texas.36

Sources

Argent, Russell H. “Fred Thomas obituary.” British Adventist Messenger, October 23, 1987.

“Fred Thomas is Association Treasurer.” Columbia Union Visitor, December 24, 1981.

“Fred Thomas Remembered as True Legend of Adventist Mission.” Adventist Review. May 12, 2016. Accessed October 14, 2025. https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/.

“From Hither and Yon.” Trans-Africa Division Outlook, December 15, 1965.

“The Future Looks Bright!” Columbia Union Visitor, April 1, 1985.

“GC takes Thomas from Pennsylvania; Martell from Columbia Union.” Columbia Union Visitor, August 1, 1985.

General Conference Committee. General Conference Archives. Accessed October 15, 2025.

Mahon, Jack. “Winds of Change in the Afro-Mideast Division.” British Adventist Messenger, May 25, 1979.

Nelson, W. E. “Second-Generation Missionaries in the Southern African Division.” ARH, April 13, 1950.

“News Notes.” Columbia Union Visitor, February 15, 1983.

“News Notes.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, November 1, 1953.

“‘Old Times’” Visit Press.” British Adventist Messenger, November 6, 1970.

“Pennsylvania Elects Fred Thomas to Serve as President.” Columbia Union Visitor, June 10, 1982.

“Pennsylvania Re-Elects Thomas; Regains Financial Stability.” Columbia Union Visitor, May 15, 1985.

Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. Takoma Park, Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1926-1988.

Thomas, F. G. “Cast Thy Bread upon the Waters.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, July 15, 1954.

Thomas, F. H. “The Yuka Hospital Project.” British Advent Messenger, September 18, 1953.

Thomas, Fred G. “Zambesi Union.” Trans-Africa Outlook, January 15, 1971.

Thomas, Ken. “Florence Beatrice Thomas obituary.” British Adventist Messenger, March 29, 1996.

Notes

  1. Russell H. Argent, “Fred Thomas obituary,” British Adventist Messenger, October 23, 1987, 15.↩

  2. Ken Thomas, “Florence Beatrice Thomas obituary,” British Adventist Messenger, March 29, 1996, 7.↩

  3. “South Kavirondo Press,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1926), 266.↩

  4. “‘Old Times’” Visit Press.” British Adventist Messenger, November 6, 1970; Russell H. Argent, “Fred Thomas obituary,” British Adventist Messenger, October 23, 1987, 15.↩

  5. Frederick George Thomas, “Personal Information – Prospective Overseas Worker,” 1977, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland.↩

  6. F. H. Thomas, “The Yuka Hospital Project,” British Advent Messenger, September 18, 1953, 6-7.↩

  7. F. H. Thomas, “The Yuka Hospital Project,” British Advent Messenger, September 18, 1953, 6-7.↩

  8. “Fred Thomas Remembered as True Legend of Adventist Mission,” Adventist Review, May 12, 2016, accessed October 14, 2025, https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/.↩

  9. “Official Graduation List,” Andrews University, 2025, accessed October 14, 2025, https://vault.andrews.edu/vault/app/gradlist/collect_list_of_graduates.↩

  10. “Fred Thomas Remembered as True Legend of Adventist Mission,” Adventist Review, May 12, 2016, accessed October 14, 2025, https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/; “News Notes,” Columbia Union Visitor, February 15, 1983, 8.↩

  11. F. G. Thomas, “Cast Thy Bread upon the Waters,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, July 15, 1954, 6-7.↩

  12. “Fred Thomas Remembered as True Legend of Adventist Mission,” Adventist Review, May 12, 2016, accessed October 14, 2025, https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/.↩

  13. General Conference Committee, October 4, 1988, 325, General Conference Archives, accessed October 15, 2025,↩

  14. “Barotseland Mission Field,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1954), 193; “News Notes,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, November 1, 1953, 3; Frederick George Thomas, “Personal Information – Prospective Overseas Worker,” 1977, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland; W. E. Nelson, “Second-Generation Missionaries in the Southern African Division,” ARH, April 13, 1950, 6.↩

  15. Dave Thomas, email to the author, October 28, 2025. Dave Thomas thought this happened in Liumba Hill at the same time they told Fred Thomas he was being transferred to Barotseland Mission Field. However, available records are consistent in stating the ordination occurred in Mongu, Barotseland. This suggests that they promoted him to director of the larger field and then realized he was not ordained according to policy, the impromptu ordination rectifying a potential problem.↩

  16. “South Kenya Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957), 160.↩

  17. “Fred Thomas Remembered as True Legend of Adventist Mission,” Adventist Review, May 12, 2016, accessed October 14, 2025, https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/.↩

  18. “Tanganyika Union,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1963), 210.↩

  19. “From Hither and Yon,” Trans-Africa Division Outlook, December 15, 1965, 11.↩

  20. Fred G. Thomas, “Zambesi Union,” Trans-Africa Outlook, January 15, 1971, 19.↩

  21. General Conference Committee, April 3, 1974, 127, General Conference Archives, accessed October 15, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1974-04.pdf.↩

  22. “Afro-Mideast Division,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Takoma Park, Washington, DC: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1978), 109.↩

  23. Jack Mahon, “Winds of Change in the Afro-Mideast Division,” British Adventist Messenger, May 25, 1979, 6.↩

  24. General Conference Committee, January 29, 1981, 24, General Conference Archives, accessed October 15, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1981-01.pdf.↩

  25. According to Frederick George Thomas, “Personal Information – Prospective Overseas Worker,” 1977, General Conference Archives, Silver Spring, Maryland, Thomas was a citizen of the United Kingdom 1981. By 2006, he held a United States passport. It may have acquired it before or while working at the General Conference.↩

  26. “Fred Thomas is Association Treasurer,” Columbia Union Visitor, December 24, 1981, 10.↩

  27. “Pennsylvania Elects Fred Thomas to Serve as President,” Columbia Union Visitor, June 10, 1982, 5.↩

  28. “Pennsylvania Re-Elects Thomas; Regains Financial Stability,” Columbia Union Visitor, May 15, 1985, 7; “The Future Looks Bright!” Columbia Union Visitor, April 1, 1985, 8.↩

  29. “GC takes Thomas from Pennsylvania; Martell from Columbia Union,” Columbia Union Visitor, August 1, 1985, 11;

    General Conference Committee, August 8, 1985, 84, General Conference Archives, accessed October 15, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1985-08.pdf.↩

  30. General Conference Committee, January 29, 1987, 19, General Conference Archives, accessed October 15, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1987-01.pdf.↩

  31. General Conference Committee, September 24, 1987, 339, General Conference Archives, accessed October 15, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1987-09.pdf.↩

  32. General Conference Committee, July 21, 1988, 240-241, General Conference Archives, accessed October 27, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1988-07.pdf.↩

  33. General Conference Committee, May 26, 1988, 189, General Conference Archives, accessed October 27, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1988-05.pdf.↩

  34. General Conference Committee, November 10, 1988, 492, General Conference Archives, accessed October 27, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1988-11.pdf.↩

  35. General Conference Committee, December 7, 1989, 655-656, General Conference Archives, accessed October 27, 2025, https://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1989-12.pdf.↩

  36. “Fred Thomas Remembered as True Legend of Adventist Mission,” Adventist Review, May 12, 2016, accessed October 14, 2025, https://adventistreview.org/news/fred-thomas-true-legend-of-adventist-mission-dead-at-90/.↩

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Riley, Sabrina. "Thomas, Frederick George (1926–2016)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. November 11, 2025. Accessed October 15, 2026. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4JR7.

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Riley, Sabrina. "Thomas, Frederick George (1926–2016)." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. November 11, 2025. Date of access October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4JR7.

Copy to clipboard Download Word File

Riley, Sabrina (2025, November 11). Thomas, Frederick George (1926–2016). Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved October 15, 2026, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=4JR7.

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