Harold W. Thomason, Sr.

Harold W. Thomason, Sr., 78, of Wayne City, died at 5:05pm on Tuesday, May 2, 2023, at Fairfield Memorial Hospital Skilled Care. 

Harold was born on June 24, 1944, in Sims, IL, to Albert “Jack” and Reba (Fowler) Thomason. On July 4, 1965, he married the first love of his life, Melba (Toombs) Thomason, who preceded him in death on October 5, 1991. He always said that he and Melba’s marriage was one made in Heaven. His second Heavenly match started on October 27, 2006, the day he married Carolyn (Edmison) Thomason.  

Harold had worked at Airtex Products for 10 years before becoming a custodian and bus driver for the Wayne City School District 100. He absolutely loved his job and the kids at the school referred to him as Uncle Harold. He was also a Mr. Fix-it and would help anyone fix most anything that needed to be fixed. He liked carpentry work and farming, was a maintenance man for the Village of Sims, and loved going camping with his family. He was a very faithful follower of his grandchildren’s sporting events and loved supporting them in everything they did. 

Harold had been a deacon of the Sims Missionary Baptist Church for many years and, did mission work for World Changers. He later became a member of the Keenes Missionary Baptist Church where he enjoyed helping with their food pantry. Harold was a music man and thoroughly enjoyed going with Carolyn and his sister Elvira to the Gospel Quartet Conventions. The one thing he loved even more was his time on Facebook. He spent time every day keeping up with his friends and family, even down to the time he could hardly do anything else. His friends meant a lot to him and will miss his comments and Likes on their posts. 

Survivors include his wife Carolyn Thomason of Wayne City, four sons Harold (Jolee) Thomason, Jr. of Flora, Kevin (Penny) Shreve of McLeansboro, Kerry (Ellen) Shreve and Kris (Becky) Shreve both of Wayne City, a daughter Crystal (Sammie) Downen of Sims, thirteen grandchildren Ryan (Misti), Sara (Steve), Andrew (Linda), Jacob, Ray (Jennifer), Dustin, Joseph, Dustin (Janie), Julie (Marc), Selena (Josh), Trevor (Katie), Tara (Dalton), and Jevin, twenty-one great grandchildren, a brother Carl (Jody) Thomason of Imboden, Arkansas, a sister Elvira (Don) Haile of Wayne City, a sister-in-law June Thomason of Fairfield, along with several nieces and nephews. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, his first wife Melba Thomason, four brothers Bob, Bill, Jackie, and Danny Thomason, and two sisters Alice Craig and an infant sister Luella. 

Funeral services for Harold Thomason will be at 2pm on Saturday, May 6th at the Sims Missionary Baptist Church in Sims, IL with burial to follow in Koontz Cemetery in Fairfield. Visitation will be from 4pm-7pm on Friday, May 5th, at the Sims Missionary Baptist Church. Memorial donations can be made to either the SSM Hospice or the Keenes Missionary Baptist Church and will be accepted during the services at the church or at the Johnson and Vaughn Funeral Home in Fairfield, which is in charge of arrangements. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Harold W. Thomason, Sr., please visit our floral store.