Robert Harold Thomas
July 29, 1930 - September 7, 2022
Robert (Bob) Thomas, age 92, died peacefully in his home in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 with his family by his side. He was born in 1930 in Palmerston North, New Zealand to Harold Thomas and May Thelma Florence (Hill) Thomas.
Bob married Barbara Jill (Bedingfield) Thomas in 1954 in Wellington, New Zealand. They were happily married for 67 years, living abroad for much of their married life in Taiwan, The Philippines and Singapore. Bob was an avid tennis player and later in life took up golf. He enjoyed living and travelling internationally, long after retirement.
Bob grew up in Wellington, New Zealand. After high school, he attended University of New Zealand in Christchurch, and obtained his graduate degree in Public Health Engineering from Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England.
Bob began his career working for the Ministry of Works in Wellington, New Zealand. Bob and his family moved to Taipei, Taiwan in 1964 when he started his international engineering management career with World Health Organization. During his career, he worked in 26 countries on either a short-term or long-term basis.
The Thomas family moved to Massachusetts in 1971 when Bob started working for Camp Dresser and McKee (CDM) in Boston, Massachusetts. He became Senior Vice President of CDM in 1986 and worked for CDM providing technical support for overseas projects until his retirement in 2000. Bob continued to work as a consultant for CDM until 2011.
Bob was extremely proud of his three children, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. He will be dearly missed by all of them.
He is survived by his sister, Judith Thomas of Wellington, New Zealand; three children Lynne O’Toole-Henderson of Amesbury, MA, Simon Thomas of Plymouth, MA, and Mark Thomas of Plymouth, MA; seven grandchildren - Rebecca O’Toole of San Diego, CA, Kimberly (O’Toole) Palen of Amesbury, MA, Lindsay O’Toole of San Diego CA, Brittany (Thomas) Goods of Dartmouth, NH, Zachary Thomas of Plymouth, MA, Ajia Thomas of Los Angeles, CA, and Shane Thomas of Orlando, FL; seven great-grandchildren - Kyle Palen, Dylan Palen, and Emma Palen, Tyler Lien and Isla Lien, Mia Lynne Ford and Esme Goods. Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Jill Thomas.
Bob married Barbara Jill (Bedingfield) Thomas in 1954 in Wellington, New Zealand. They were happily married for 67 years, living abroad for much of their married life in Taiwan, The Philippines and Singapore. Bob was an avid tennis player and later in life took up golf. He enjoyed living and travelling internationally, long after retirement.
Bob grew up in Wellington, New Zealand. After high school, he attended University of New Zealand in Christchurch, and obtained his graduate degree in Public Health Engineering from Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England.
Bob began his career working for the Ministry of Works in Wellington, New Zealand. Bob and his family moved to Taipei, Taiwan in 1964 when he started his international engineering management career with World Health Organization. During his career, he worked in 26 countries on either a short-term or long-term basis.
The Thomas family moved to Massachusetts in 1971 when Bob started working for Camp Dresser and McKee (CDM) in Boston, Massachusetts. He became Senior Vice President of CDM in 1986 and worked for CDM providing technical support for overseas projects until his retirement in 2000. Bob continued to work as a consultant for CDM until 2011.
Bob was extremely proud of his three children, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. He will be dearly missed by all of them.
He is survived by his sister, Judith Thomas of Wellington, New Zealand; three children Lynne O’Toole-Henderson of Amesbury, MA, Simon Thomas of Plymouth, MA, and Mark Thomas of Plymouth, MA; seven grandchildren - Rebecca O’Toole of San Diego, CA, Kimberly (O’Toole) Palen of Amesbury, MA, Lindsay O’Toole of San Diego CA, Brittany (Thomas) Goods of Dartmouth, NH, Zachary Thomas of Plymouth, MA, Ajia Thomas of Los Angeles, CA, and Shane Thomas of Orlando, FL; seven great-grandchildren - Kyle Palen, Dylan Palen, and Emma Palen, Tyler Lien and Isla Lien, Mia Lynne Ford and Esme Goods. Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Jill Thomas.
