By Thomas Rayfiel
Donald Thomas, who worked the Coop’s Sunday night inventory shift for many years, died Aug. 18, 2022. He was 71. Donald joined the Coop in 1989.
“He was a quiet, kind, and reliable squad member,” shift coworker Andrea Dobro recalls. “Always happy to train new squad members and to stay late to get the work done. Whenever I would run into him, either while shopping at the Coop or walking in the neighborhood, it was always nice to see him. He had a great smile and friendly demeanor.”
“Donald was not only a loving husband, but a caring and compassionate friend to everyone he met.”
Donald’s wife, Evelyn Davis-Thomas
Donald’s wife, Evelyn Davis-Thomas, says on their first date he made her a Coop meal of salmon and jewel sweet potatoes.
“Donald was not only a loving husband, but a caring and compassionate friend to everyone he met. He was a master of conversation and always had some wisdom to impart to anyone who would listen. He had a sense of family and of friends, too, who were dear to his heart. There was nothing he would not do for either. He was cherished by everyone who had the privilege to know him.”
Donald was born and raised in Brooklyn and lived here all his life. He was employed as a postal worker and a computer repair technician. He also volunteered at the Boys’ Club of New York as a mentor and helped many young people individually. “A father to the fatherless,” his wife said. In addition to Evelyn, he is survived by his sister, Maxine Eula Thomas, and his goddaughters, Anissa Smith and Tracy Alexis MacHolmes.