Another of My Musical Influences Has Passed Reverend Calvin Thomas

On April 3, 2010 my mother and I were given the news that my uncle(my mother's brother) passed away shortly after eating his breakfast. At first the details were unclear, but we knew he had been sick and ailing since December 2009. It is very unclear how long he was actually sick, because he was keeping his illness a secret for as long as he could. "He was handling things his way," my mom seems to believe.





The first bit of information he gave us was back in December when he took low sick with Renal failure(sp). I guess he figured he should let us know something when that happened. His usual baritone/tenor voice sounded so frail and breathy. He would still try to reminisce about the old times when he and my mom and their younger sister grew up. My mom says he remembers EVERY THING!! She used to think he'd be making most of it all up, since there was no way to really remember all that! But he filled his church with loving stories of his family especially with memories of his sister and her special operatic soprano voice to the point that when they met my mother and aunt, everyone felt as if they had already met them long ago.

He was a college professor of music, was a pastor and minister of music at his church. When I became a teacher, helped me with many questions and concerns of teaching music and how to design lessons for the students. He also critiqued my students performance and gave insightful help whenever I needed new ideas.

He was a great talented man, thought very critically, and touched lives everywhere he went. I miss him dearly.