Carol Rose Thomas (1937 – 2025)

Carol Rose (VanBuskirk) Thomas was born at home in Stockton, MO on November 9, 1937, and passed away at home in Peculiar, MO on January 26, 2025.   Her parents were Lyman R. and Ida Constance (Boss) VanBuskirk.  Carol was a loving mother of three, grandmother of 11, great-grandmother to 10 (soon to be 11), and aunt and friend to many.   As a young child, Carol lived in Stockton before the family moved to a hard-scrabble farm at Hartley (Cedar County, MO) where the old house had electricity but no plumbing and only wood heat.  They had horses, cattle, and sheep, and her dad grew watermelons.  There, her first schooling was at a rural one-room schoolhouse.  Later the family lived in Aunt Alma's boarding house in downtown Kansas City (17th and Pennsylvania) and Carol attended Switzer School.  The family later moved to Adrian, and eventually settled in Greenfield, where Carol graduated high school in 1955.  Carol was born with a cleft palate and, at seven years old, was the recipient of successful, ground-breaking surgery pioneered by Dr. Padgett at St. Mary's Hospital in Kansas City to repair the palate.  Later, in Greenfield, still in the 1940's, Carol became the first child in the county to receive dental braces – for which the family had to travel to distant Aurora monthly to see a dentist who was dabbling in the emerging science of Orthodontics.   She wore braces for seven years.  After high school, Carol attended St. John's School of Nursing in Springfield and received her RN Diploma in 1958.  After graduating, and while working at St. John's in Springfield, she met her future husband Larry Thomas through social circles.  Carol was only 21 when she married Larry in 1959, and she joined him in Kansas City where he was already working.  Carol took a job as a nurse at St. Mary's Hospital, then later worked most of her career as a surgical nurse at Research Hospital, where she also had a supervisory appointment.  She also briefly worked at Sam Houston Hospital in Houston, TX.  Carol often told the story about how she "almost" became Harry Truman's nurse while working at Research Hospital.  In fact, she was assigned to care for the former President the following morning, but Harry was discharged the evening before her shift.

Carol was a life-long and very competitive Bridge player and loved to play all kinds of card and board games with her friends and family.  Fittingly, she WON her last game of Rummy with her family on Christmas Eve, nevertheless complaining about her dearth of jokers!  Carol and Larry were ardent bowlers, and the basement is cluttered with dozens of large, shiny bowling trophies accumulated over decades.   She didn't boast much about usually bowling better than Larry, but was very proud of her career-high game of 255.  Carol played piano, organ, French horn, and bugle in her youth, and continued playing piano throughout her life.

Carol also loved team sports and was a passionate fan of the Chiefs, Royals, and Jayhawks – including Jayhawks basketball.  Carol and Larry had season tickets to the Chiefs for many years.  Another passion was fishing – she could pull eight fish out of the water for every one fish anyone else caught.  Yet another interest was sewing and fine needlework, including embroidery, cross-stitch, and needlepoint.  Carol created countless beautiful pieces over the years but will be best remembered for her Christmas stocking masterpieces – a labor of love created for each child, grandchild, great-grandchild, and in-law until she could no longer see well enough to keep up with her growing family.

Carol was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Larry, a son, Bret Thomas, her parents, and all of her siblings [Lyman Frank, Wilma Jean, and John Richard (Dick)].  Survivors include son Andrew (Diann) Thomas of Monett, MO, daughter Jennifer (Roger) Carter of Pleasant Hill, and daughter-in-law Kelly Thomas of Lee's Summit.  Grandchildren are Rachel (JJ) DeSimone, Lauren (BJ) Bryant, Mitchell (Olivia) Thomsen, Hanna (Erik) Thomsen, Emily (Chris) Doyle, Jessica (Truman) Burchett, Katie (Kalvin) Mahoney, Donovan Thomas, and Avery Thomas; step-grandchildren Eric (Chelsea) Carter and Kelly Woolf.  Great-grandchildren are Hunter Moss, Emma Moss, Madeline Mahoney, Ryan Mahoney, Luca DeSimone, Reagan Bryant, Liam Bryant, Teddy Thomsen, Kimberly Baird, and Max Brockhouse.

A grave-side service will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2:00 pm, at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kansas City, followed by a Celebration of Life at a later date.

Donations in Carol's honor to Village Hospice (Hospice by John Knox Village), Kansas City, or to the organization of your choice, would be most welcome.

Arrangements: Cullen Funeral Home, Raymore, Missouri 816.322.5278