Reverend David Owen Thomas, Jr.

David Owen Thomas, Jr., age 88, passed away peacefully at home on March 12, 2026. The eldest son of David O. Thomas, Sr. and Jeanette Pratt Thomas, Dave was born in New Orleans and grew up in Atlanta, graduating with honors from Georgia Military Academy, where he excelled as a track athlete in the hurdles and pole vault. After earning a degree from Georgia Tech, he married Betty Cobb Boyd, raised two daughters, and built a career in investment banking. In 1973, he moved to Savannah to work alongside his brother renovating historic properties in the downtown area.

In 1989, his path shifted when he earned a Master of Divinity degree from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was ordained as a minister and devoted many years to serving others as a drug and alcohol counselor and prison chaplain. Deeply committed to Alcoholics Anonymous, he remained actively involved for the rest of his life, mentoring those in need and celebrating 48 years of sobriety with great pride.

Above all, Dave was a man of deep faith, conviction, compassion, and generosity. He was devoted to his family and always ready to help anyone in need—whether visiting prisoners, counseling those struggling with addiction, providing affordable housing in Savannah, supporting his children and grandchildren, or caring for abandoned disabled cats.

He will be greatly missed and his memory cherished by his loving wife of 30 years, Rev. Saundra Stiles Thomas; brother Robert “Bob” Thomas (Angie); daughters Dr. Elizabeth “Lisa” Thomas Adamiak (Bert) and Laurie Thomas Evans (Richard); grandchildren David “Elijah” Adamiak (Jesi), Daniel “Nic” Adamiak, Tyler James Evans (Blaine), and Sarah Evans Ruddy (David); and great-grandchildren Major, Julian, Sylas, Isaiah, Jaylen, Ariah, Kayson, and Sadie, who knew him as “Pe-Pap.”