Anita Jane Thomas

Anita Jane Thomas (Cook) lived a remarkable 98 years rooted in the community she cherished in Lawrence Township, Van Buren County, Michigan. Born on December 29, 1927, to Myron Howard Cook and Cleo Lucille Cook (Jacobs), she attended Lanphear Country School and graduated from Lawrence High School as an outstanding student. In 1944, she married Leland Earl Thomas, and together they spent six decades raising three children on their family farm while sharing a life of hard work and simple joys.

Anita found deep pleasure in gardening, bird watching, walking in the woods, and hunting for morel mushrooms. She and Leland enjoyed riding their saddle horses and hosting family sleigh rides and hayrides with their team of Percherons. Their home was a gathering place for extended family, filled with good food and warm fellowship. In retirement, they looked forward to late-September color tours through northern Michigan, across the Mackinac Bridge, and into the Upper Peninsula. Anita participated fully in farm life, helping with haying, maple syrup production, and preparing fruits and vegetables for market. She also worked at the Paw Paw Shopping Center, where she formed many lasting friendships.

A Mayflower descendant and member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Anita took pride in her family’s long history in Van Buren County and enjoyed sharing stories and photographs of her ancestors. She was a devoted member of the Oh So E. Z. Club for most of her adult life, an accomplished pianist who played for services at the Lawrence Baptist Church, and a dedicated volunteer with the Van Buren County Senior Service Board, the Van Buren District Library, and the Van Buren Historical Society Museum.

Anita was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings Bernice Cook Tarantino, John Cook, and Robert Cook, and her granddaughter Debra Hanson. She is survived by her three children, Sandra (Don) Hanson of Decatur, Michigan, Stanton (Christine) Thomas of Plover, Wisconsin, and Steven (Bonny) Thomas of Siren, Wisconsin; her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and many dear nieces, nephews, neighbors, and friends. She held special affection for her caregivers and the staff of Centrica Care Navigators Hospice, who supported her in her later years.