THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL
Daytona Beach, Florida
Thursday, November 15, 2018

Grace S. Thomas
09/22/1929 - 11/03/2018

Grace S. Thomas, 89, of Palm Coast, FL, passed away at Flagler Pines Rehab & Nursing Center, Bunnell, FL on November 3, 2018. She was born September 22, 1929 as the second of three children of Attilio and Carmela De Lorenzo.

A childhood polio survivor, Grace graduated from Garfield High School at the age of 16 and became Payroll Master at Dumont Television. She took two busses just to get to work and became the first person in her Italian immigrant family to buy a car and a home. Grace was smart, loyal, hard-working, and had a photographic memory. She worked for the same company her entire career, through all its mergers and acquisitions. When she retired, she knew the names and payroll numbers of thousands of employees. Always looking to give back, in her later years, Grace volunteered with AARP to prepare income tax returns for senior citizens.

Grace was a member of the choir at her former parish, Our Lady of Sorrows, Garfield, NJ, and a participant in the Adoration Ministry at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church. She loved black coffee, the color blue, Neil Diamond, and her family and friends. Whether belting out the chorus to Sweet Caroline, shouting out the window for directions to Hyde Park, or cheering on her CYO basketball team, Grace was never afraid to be heard. She engaged in life fully, seeing her brace as an opportunity rather than a handicap. Grace considered all her nieces and nephews, as well as the youth groups she worked with, as her own children. Grace was a woman of great faith and great achievement who will be missed by all who knew her.

She was predeceased by her beloved husband William of 46 years and her brother Alfred De Lorenzo and wife Rose.

Grace is survived by her brother, Anthony De Lorenzo (Mary) of Jacksonville, FL; sister-in-law Patricia St. Clair (Robert) and brother-in-law John Rowan of Palm Coast; brother-in-law James Rowan (Catherine) of Westfield, NJ; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.

A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Palm Coast, on Saturday, November 17th at 11:00 a.m., followed by inurnment at the Columbarium.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or Triumph Over Kid Cancer, 723 Coleman Avenue, Corpus Christi, TX 78401.