Billy J. Thomas

Billy Joe Ballard Thomas, 86, of Welch, Oklahoma, passed away at 8:20 p.m., Thursday, August 26, 2021, at Freeman West in Joplin.

He was born March 10, 1935 at Welch, Oklahoma to William and Effie (Jones) Thomas.  Bill grew up and attended school in Chetopa, Kansas and graduated from Chetopa High School in 1953.  For most of his adult life, he worked as a carpenter.  He was also an avid baseball player and had played on the Chetopa High School baseball team.  He had also been very active in youth baseball in Chetopa for many years.  Bill and Jim Belknap acquired the land from the Chetopa School Board and then Bill, Jim, Henry Bell and others worked to build the little league ball field where Bill served as one of the many coaches that used the field.  He attended the Chetopa Assembly of God and later the Community Bible Church.

Bill was united in marriage to Sharon Wilson on November 5, 1959 in a private ceremony in Miami, Oklahoma.  Following their marriage, they lived in Chetopa until moving to Welch in 1989 where they have lived since.  She survives, of the home.

Additional survivors include:

One Son:  Victor A. Thomas - Joplin, Missouri

Two Daughters:  Ranita Thomas - Welch, Oklahoma

Bonna Bayliss - Fairland, Oklahoma

Son-in-law: Tom Davis - Columbus, Kansas

Five Grandchildren

Eleven Great-grandchildren

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by their daughter, Kimberlea Davis in 2012.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m.,  Tuesday, August 31, 2021 at the Community Bible Church in Chetopa with Rev. Randy Frazier officiating.  Burial will follow at the Lake Creek Cemetery near Bartlett, Kansas.  The family will receive friends at the church from 7 to 8 p.m., Monday.  Memorial contributions are suggested to the Community Bible Church and these may be left at, or mailed to the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home, PO Box 346, Chetopa, Kansas  67336.

Friends may visit the Bath-Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home website at www.forbeshoffman.com to leave condolences to the family.