Felyce Thomas

Felyce Thomas (née Landau) died on Sunday, December 11th, 2022 at 90 years of age. She was a devoted and loving wife, mother, and grandmother, and passionate educator of children, both during her long career in literacy education and of all the other children in her life. Felyce was born on the 21st of October 1932 in New York City to Abraham (Al) Landau and Hattie Geen. She was raised in the Bronx alongside her beloved sister Bernice, and earned a BA in Psychology from Hunter College in 1954. In 1955, she married Marvin Thomas, whom she had met when they were counselors together at a sleep-away camp; they were married for 67 years, until their deaths. Professionally, she was an accomplished teacher of reading at the elementary level. She first taught in East Harlem at Public School 107 from 1955-1958, and then moved across the Hudson to Oakland, New Jersey. There, she was the inaugural second grade teacher at the brand new Oakland Heights Elementary school, where she later became Reading Specialist until 1978. During this time, she earned an MA in Elementary Education from Paterson State College in 1963, and was an ABD PhD candidate at Rutgers University. In 1978, she became Director of Reading and Language Arts for the Oakland Public Schools District– a role she held until her retirement in 1988. Though she had a long and storied career, she was particularly proud of successfully landing a Governor’s Grant in 1986 for a program for reluctant writers at the middle-school level, which she called “Write On: Wonderful.” All of this is to say that Felyce deeply valued learning and education, both for herself and in shepherding young minds. This continued even after her well-earned retirement. She and Marvin moved to Melbourne, Florida in 1988 in order to care for her in-laws, be closer to her sister, Bernice and brother-in-law Jerry (z’l), and their daughter, Suzette, son-in-law Jeffrey, and granddaughter Arielle. But she kept learning and growing; she was constantly reading on a wide range of subjects, and clipping articles (and New Yorker cartoons) for her family and friends to read and discuss. And she continued advocating for the needs and best interests of children, serving with her husband Marvin as a Guardian ad Litem, an advocate for children in the child welfare system Alongside Marvin and other beloved family and friends, she traveled the globe, having adventures across every single continent. But no matter what, her favorite place to be was with those she loved– whether that was her family, the friends she had made over the course of her life, or the new friends she made wherever she went. Even as life became more challenging due to aging, injury, and Parkinson’s Disease, the core of her self endured: kind and compassionate towards others, self-effacing and generous of spirit, warm, empathetic, quick witted, and, at whatever age, wanting to support anyone she met in continuing to grow into their best selves. She follows her husband Marvin Thomas, who died this October. She is survived by her sister Bernice Haberman, her daughter and son-in-law Suzette Gingold and Jeffrey Gingold, and granddaughter Arielle Gingold and partner Paul Sturtevant. A memorial service in her honor will be held at South Florida National Cemetery on Wednesday December 21st at 1:30pm. All who knew her are welcome. Donations in Felyce’s memory can be made to The Conscious Kid or The Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

Felyce Thomas

October 21, 1932 - December 11, 2022