YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) – Elizabeth Ann Thomas, affectionately known as Betty or Budz, died on Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Modoc, South Carolina, under the loving care of John and Angela Thomas, at age 91.
Born in Youngstown on October 21, 1931, she was the third of six children to John and Mary Janci Martinko and grew up in the home her father built on Craiger Avenue, overlooking the steel mills along the Mahoning River.
A graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School, she was elected to the National Honor Society in 1946.
She married Raymond Thomas, also of Youngstown, on August 1, 1953, after he returned from military service in the Korean War. He preceded her in death in January 2003, months shy of their 50th wedding anniversary.
Smart, talented and determined, she held a variety of jobs: bookkeeper, caterer and seamstress of upholstery and drapery. She retired in her 80s as a bookkeeper for Youngstown Hearing and Speech Center.
She was active in St. Matthias Church (now Our Lady of Sorrows Parish) and enjoyed cooking traditional foods, notably halupki (stuffed cabbage) at the annual Mahoning County Slovak Festival.
Her greatest joys came from family picnics or reunions, lunches and phone calls with girlfriends from Craiger Avenue, sports events where she rooted for sons and grandsons, visits at home with extended family and especially time spent with grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her brothers, John, Leonard, Thomas and Donald Martinko and sister, Lucille Kramer.
She is survived by four children, Marilyn (Peter) Westfall of Lubbock, Texas, Raymond Thomas of Modoc, South Carolina, Jean Thomas of Youngstown and John (Angela) Thomas of Modoc, South Carolina and grandchildren Amy Westfall of Ft. Davis, Texas, Andrew Thomas of Emmitsburg, Maryland and Jacob (Kylie) Thomas of Lilburn, Georgia. She will be dearly missed by her many nieces and nephews, supportive neighbors from Aberdeen Avenue where she resided for more than 60 years and sister-in-law, Georgieann Martinko.
A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 6, 2023, at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish at St. Matthias Church, where Fr. John Jerek will officiate.
Friends and family may call from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Friday May 5, 2023, at the Kubina-Yuhasz-Wasko Funeral Home, 5925 Market Street, Boardman, OH 44512.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Youngstown Dorothy Day House, Beatitude House, or Our Lady of Sorrows Parish.
The burial will take place at Lake Park Cemetery.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Elizabeth Ann Thomas, please visit our floral store.
A television tribute will air Monday, May 1 at the following approximate times: 7:10 a.m. on FOX, 12:22 p.m. on WKBN, 5:08 p.m. on MyYTV and 7:27 p.m. on WYTV. Video will be posted here the day of airing.
