ESPY LYLE THOMAS

Espy Lyle Thomas, 92, returned to his Heavenly father, on December 24, 2005 at the Oneida County Hospital in Malad of natural causes.

Lyle was born at home on December 30, 1912 to Llewellyn Espy and Ethel Price Thomas in Malad. He was the oldest of five sons.

He was raised on the family farm in Daniels, better known as “the head of Malad”. Lyle attended school at the Daniels School House located next to his home. This land later became part of the family ranch and a well known landmark. His teacher was Tommy Davis, who later became grandfather to the famous Osmond family.

Lyle graduated from the eighth grade and then went to work on the family wheat farm. He also worked for his uncle Jim Williams and became best friends with his cousin Bland. The U.S. Soil conservation was looking for workers and hired Bland and Lyle to survey Juniper, Idaho, test dirt pits for the Sublette dam, and measure the length and depth of the lakes in Salmon, Idaho.

Lyle had a ruptured appendix and was “specialed” by a nurse named Mary M. Jones. After a six year courtship, they were married on July 10, 1933 in Ogden, Utah. To this union were born two children, Tamara and David.

In the 1940’ Lyle took a correspondence course in radio repair. Thus began his career in repairing radios. He became the first person in Malad to sell T.V.s. He then opened Lyle’s T.V. and Sport Shop, selling T.V.s, guns, shooting and hunting equipment and repairing all of them. He also became a movie projectionist at the Star and Aldea Theatres in Malad.

Lyle took time out of his busy schedule to hunt big game animals, help start the Malad Gun Club, win many shooting trophies in trapshooting, be among the first to run the “River of No Return” and belong to the Fraternal Order of Eagles.

He loved his family, took care of his two children and taught them to love trapshooting and hunting. He is survived by his daughter, Tamara (Roger) Goddard, and son, David Lyle; grandchildren, Clint Goddard and Holly (Scott)Vernon; one great-grandchild, Michael Vernon, all of Pocatello.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife, Mary, and three brothers, Earl, Jedd and Laurel.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, December 30, 2005, at 12 noon in the Horsley Funeral Home on Thursday evening from 6:00 -8:00 p.m. and on Friday from 10:30-11:45 a.m. Burial will follow in the Malad City Cemetery.