Jim Thomas, a former state senator who fought for years to keep branch banking out of Colorado, died Aug. 2 in Louisville. He was 81.
During his time in the Senate (1965-68), he sponsored or co-sponsored 86 bills, his family said.
Many led to state laws, including the Water Pollution Act of 1966, the Community College Act of 1967 and the Colorado Children’s Code. Thom as, a Democrat, represented Baca, Bent and Otero counties.
“He had the sharpest steel-trap mind of anyone I ever knew,” said a longtime colleague and friend, Wally Stealey of Pueblo.
“He was analytical and a great political speaker,” said Stealey, who worked as a lobbyist with Thom as for the Independent Bankers of Colorado. Thomas joined the bankers group after his legislative term.
The legislature repeatedly voted against branch banking, and after a lawsuit, the issue went to the Supreme Court and the battle was lost in the early 1980s, Stealey said. Colorado was one of the last states to allow branch banking, Stealey said.
Even after that, Thomas worked as a lobbyist to strengthen local banks “so people still had access to community banks,” said Thomas’ wife, Courtney.
Before Thomas joined the legislature, he and his father and other family members owned Thomas Produce Co. in Rocky Ford, one of the largest shippers of fresh onions in the U.S., said his son, Maxwell Thomas of Davis, Calif.
Jim Thomas and two partners started Frozen Foods Inc., which was one of the first companies in the U.S. to ship pearl onions, said Thomas’ daughter, Jami Thomas of Eustace, Texas.
The family company bought onions from farmers in several states and shipped them to major companies such as Green Giant and Birds Eye, his children said.
“He was a political wizard, savvy and smart,” said his wife.
Usually an optimist, Thomas sometimes complained that in the farming business, a person has to worry about having a crop, and in the legislature, “you’re always banging your head against the wall,” said his daughter.
James Pendleton Thomas was born in McKinney, Texas, on June 27, 1930.
He considered becoming a minister because he liked public speaking, but entering college, he changed his mind and majored in history, earning a master’s degree from Ohio State University.
He married Bette Griffin, and they had two children.
They later divorced, and he married Courtney Ann Kehoe.
In addition to her and his son and daughter, Thomas is survived by five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
