I was born at the Gettysburg
Hospital on April 2, 1944. The first
couple years of my life I lived in Biglerville,
Pennsylvania. When I was about three, my dad built a house
in the country
a mile outside of Biglerville and this is where I grew up.
My Dad was Zell Ur Thomas and my Mom was Anna Edna (Eyler)
Thomas. I have a brother James Lewis Thomas and a step brother
Donald
Thomas. I attended the Arendtsville
Elementary School and Biglerville High School.
Both of these schools are part of the Upper
Adams School District. I graduated from Biglerville
High School in 1962. During these
years there were several people, other than my family who made
a positive impact on my life. First was Mrs. Walters, my 4th
and 5th grade teacher. It was during the time that I spent
in her
class that I began to realize that I could succeed and I began
to enjoy school. She helped to open the door to my future.
In high school I was influenced by Mr. Clyde Cover. He was
my Industrial
Arts teacher and helped me to realize that I had an aptitude
for working with my hands. In my senior year of high school
he encouraged
me to consider becoming a teacher. He took me to Millersville
College and showed me around. I liked the idea and decided
to apply for admission. During this time of my life I was also
very
much influenced by Mr. Don Tisianti. He was my Sunday School
teacher at Centenary United Methodist Church (Biglerville)
and a guidance
counselor at Gettysburg High School. These three people had
a tremendous impact on my life and I thank them for their giving,
their caring and their influence.
I attended Millersville College ( now Millersville
University ) and graduated from there in 1967.
While I was attending Millersville I met Eileen L. Maus who
I married on June 22, 1968. I became
an Industrial Arts (now called Technology Education) teacher
at Littlestown
High School, Littlestown, Pennsylvania in
the fall
of 1967. I was the department chair of the Practical Arts
Department consisting of Technology Education, Business Education,
Home Economics/Consumer Science, Marketing and Distributing
Education. I taught Metal Shop, Electronics, and Computer
Aided Drafting, in which we used the program AutoCAD . Teaching
was one of
my great
joys in life!
The first year I taught I also Helped coach Football
and Track at Littlestown High School.
Clubs or Orgainzations that I have sponsored
or have been the advisor to while teaching at Littlestown include,
Industrial Arts Club, Stage and Audio Club, Technology Student
Association, Leather Carving Club, Web design Club, Architectural
Appreciation Club and the Littlestown
Interact Club.
In the fall of 2002 I was trained and certified
through Penn State as a facilitator for the Strengthening
Families Program being offered to the Littlestown
Middle School Sixth Grade families. I have served
as a youth facilitator, Parent facilitator and am also serving
on the advisory team.
I am also a Junior Achievement
volunteer at our intermediate school.
I had training for this task in 2006-07.
Another great joy is my family. Eileen and I
have three children - Chad, Eric and Molly
My wife Eileen taught library
skills as a Liberian at Littlestown Elementary School for three
years. She Left
teaching to become a stay at home mom. She worked part time
at Wadens Book Store in Hanover for a few years. She worked
as the secretary at Barts
Centenary United Methodist Church in Littlestown
and then in the same position at St.
Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Littlestown.
She now works in the registrar's office at Gettysburg
College.
Children:
Chad spent two
years at Millersville University and
worked in Lancaster at The Actors Company of Pennsylvania, Fulton
Opera House, Mount
Gretna Theatre, and also for Clair
Brothers.
Clair Brothers offered him a job in Brunei on the island
of Borneo.
He accepted this job and it was
in Brunei that
he met Amina Loong from the Philippines.
They were married and now have two children
- Benjamin and Alexander .
After four years of a difficult marriage Chad and Amina separated
and were divorced. They have shared custody
of the two boys and all live in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania.
He is once again working for Clair Brothers. In June of 2003
he married Stefanie Zegers. Stefanie graduated from Millersville
University and is employed by a daycare facility. Chad and Stefanie
have a little girl- Zoe.
Our son Eric graduated from Penn
State with
an Associate Degree in Architectural/Engineering Technology
and a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Building Engineering
and is working as a Civil Engineer for LSC
Design Inc. York, Pennsylvania. He past his Professional
Engineering Test and has his Professional Engineering Liscense.
He serves
as a project manager at LSC Design. He married
Kristin Zegers in October of 2005.
Molly graduated from Gettysburg
College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with
English as her major in the spring of 1998. She received
her Masters from Drexel
University in
Informational Technology and is now employed by Temple
University in Philidelphia as their Electronic
Cataloger with their Library system. She was married
to Dan Larkin on Ocober 9th of 2004.
Dan also graduated from Gettysburg
College and
is teaching English at a Charter School in Philidelphia.Dan
and Molly have a little boy - Graham.
In July of of 2000 I was diagnosed with Merkel
Cell Skin Cancer . I have had surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
At present I
have no signs of this cancer. I believe that this cancer was
caused by arc welding and not having the skin of my left forearm
shielded
properly from the welding arc.
During these many years in Littlestown I have
been involved in or I am a member of the following organizations
- Littlestown
Jaycees,
Littlestown Education Association, Pennsylvania
State Education Association, National
Education Association, Technology
Education Association of Pennsylvania, Technology Educators
Association of Adams County, Advisor to Littlestown Student
Technology Association, Coordinator to the Region 3
Pennsylvania Student
Technology Association, Member of Board of Directors for the
Pennsylvania Student Technology
Association, Associated with the
national Technology
Student Association, served on Board of the Littlestown
YMCA,
A member of the Littlestown
Rotary, member of and served in
almost every position on the Ad Board for Barts~Centenary United
Methodist
Church.
I also teach
Sunday School at Barts
Centenary United Methodist Church. In February of 2007 I began
the Littlestown
Area Historical Society.
Part time jobs that I have had from high school,
through college and while teaching include, thining peaches,
picking cherries, working on a farm, summer work at C.H. Musselman
Company, summer work at a chicken egg farm/strawberry and fruit
stand, summer work at New
Holland Machine Company, delivering
ladder trucks, building and installing kitchen cabinets, independant
drafting projects, Prosper facilitator, summer work at Littlestown
Area School District designing, building and installing cabinets,
shelving, counters
and other
misc.
office and classroom items.
I enjoy teaching, wood working, reading, drawing,
leather carving, gardening, camping, visiting historic locations,
remoldeling, photography, and designing furniture, houses and
web sites and writing.
Some of the web sites that I have designed and
developed include, (1)My
Personal Web site, (2) Barts
Centenary United Methodist Church, (3) Littlestown
Rotary, (4) Littlestown
High School Interact Club, Littlestown
Information Site, (5) Prosper
Littlestown Middle School/ Penn State Strengthening Families,
(6) Links
to Educational sites by Subject and interest areas, (7) Web
Development Used for adult Education class on making a web
page with a Microsoft Word, (8) LHS
Technology Student Association, (9) Choosing
a Career, (10) Searching
for the career, (11)
LHS
Guidance Information, (12) Biglerville
High School Class of 1962, (13) LHS
Graduation Project information site ,
(14) The Littlestown
High School Alumni Net, (15) The
LHS Class of 1997, (16) the Thomas
Family Network, (17) Littlestown
Ministerium, the Littlestown
Chamber of Commerce , and the Littlestown
Arae Historical Society.
I have a Master's Equivalency
in Education and have taken graduate courses at or through Millersville
University, Western Maryland
now McDaniel College, Penn
State University, Wilkes
University, Temple University, East
Stroudsburg University, and Carlow
College.
I have been nominated
to the Who's
Who Among America's Teachers in 1996, 1998,
2000, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
I have been named a 2004 Claes Nobel Educator
of Distinction by the National
Society of High School Scholars.
I retired from teaching on June 7, 2005
. This was my 38th year of teaching.
Expect people to be better than they are: it helps them to
become better. But don't be disappointed when they are not: it
helps them to keep trying.
-Merry Browne
