Congetta Flora (Church) Thomas

A graveside service for Congetta F. Thomas, 91, of Portales will be held at 2:00 P.M., Tuesday, May 4,2021 at the Portales Cemetery with Louis Accardi officiating.

Congetta “Connie” Flora Thomas, 92, of Portales, New Mexico passed away Saturday afternoon, May first in her family’s home after battling colon cancer since November.  She was born March 14, 1929 in Netcong, a small town in New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Antionette and Joseph “Church”.  She Married at 18 years old to Salvador Accardi and they had three sons: Louis, Joseph, and Michael.  Connie then married George Thomas and they shared one daughter, Antoinette “Annette”.  George went on to adopt her sons, and she in turn adopted George’s sons, John “Jackie” Thomas and George Thomas, JR.

 Together George and Connie moved their family from New Jersey to Riverside California in the 1960’s where she worked at ITT Cannon as a machinist. In 1972 Connie suffered from a dangerous blood clot that had traveled to her heart and was only given three years to live. This was not her first brush with death, when she was eight years old, she was hit by a drunk driver and hospitalized for several months. In 1979 Connie and George followed their son Louis and his family to New Mexico where he was attending Eastern New Mexico University. George and Connie fell in love with Portales and made it their home.  For many years they ran a mobile home park north of town and Connie found many loving and valuable friends here. During the eighties, Connie was very active in her son Louis’s church until he moved, then went on to attend a few other churches throughout the years. She enjoyed sharing her faith through ministry and was often traveling to Mexico with her church family to do God’s work, teaching Sunday school for all ages, and delivering powerful sermons. Connie was a forceful prayer warrior, a vibrant healer, and an enthusiastic song leader.  Her voice was so beautiful, that as a child a neighbor had once offered to send Connie to vocal school to become an opera singer, but her mother was very protective and refused to let her leave home so young. In church and everywhere else Connie’s voice was always the loudest and most distinctive in the room.  Connie was a devoted caregiver and cared for her mother-in- law until her death and as a mother and grandmother, she constantly had a house full of children and family over which she prayed constantly. She was an amazing cook and fed us well.  Connie stayed very active, even after retiring from the mobile home park in 2002 with church activities and paling around with good friend Mary Francis Reed, who proceeded her in death this year.  Their forty-year friendship was very dear and full of love. Connie is known for her big smile, her blunt but loving attitude and an aura of love. Connie also loved helping her daughter Annette with the ceramic store and was always sewing, crocheting, and crafting in some way.

 Connie and Georges eighteen grandchildren are spread from coast to coast, however in her last days her grandson, Michael Stout and his wife, Laurie were her primary caregivers. Connie enjoyed living with them and Laurie’s children, Dylan and Hunter Husted and Christian Purser.  Connie is also survived by sons Louis Accardi and wife Joan and Joseph Accardi and longtime girlfriend, Kim,  granddaughter, Congetta Findley and her children, Dylan Findley and Ariana GoGo Salguero also of Portales. Other close grandchildren and great- grandchildren are granddaughter Keren Thomas and her children, Teresa Gollihugh (and her son Michah) and Joshua Palenschat, Jeremy Thomas and family, Jolene Thomas and her children, Alysia Thomas (and her children Sadie and Ayden), Christian and Destiny Boone, Angela Thomas and her son, Javon Thomas (and his daughter, Nyla), James Thomas, and his children, Marriah, James Jr, Zaniya and Navaiyah Thomas, and granddaughter Brenda Nopwaskey and her children Amber and John Nopwaskey.  

Connie is proceeded in death by her parents and all eight siblings, her husband, George Thomas in 1999, sons Jackie, Junior and Michael Thomas, daughter Antionette Marie Perry, daughter in law Catherine Downs Thomas and granddaughter Michelle Downs. She was dearly loved and will be forever missed.

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