Mary Lourdes Thomas went to be with her Heavenly Father March 29, 2015.

Mary was born August 27, 1926, in Santiago Cuba to Nessey and Elvira Andrade. In 1931, her family moved to Panama where she attended school in the Canal-Zone. When Mary was 12 she and her family moved to Los Angeles. In 1955, to her great pride, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

In 2004 she moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to live with her son, John and 2 grandchildren.

During WWII, Mary's high school friends came up with a project to aid in the war effort. They wrote letters to servicemen as a method to support the moral of the troops. They attempted to get Mary to write one too, but being shy, she couldn't get herself to do it. Her friends wrote one for her and selected the recipient of the letter, a sergeant Vincent Thomas. Mary and Vincent continued to correspond and 2 years later, in 1945, they married. She would always say he was the love of her life. Though she outlived him by more than 40 years, she never remarried or even dated.

During the economic downturn of the 1960's, Mary started employment first by typing at home, then, for the next 40 years, she worked in the catering departments at various hotels in Los Angeles and Hollywood. Before long, she headed up the catering department for The New Otani Hotel. She went on to become the catering director at The Hollywood Roosevelt and The Hilton at the Warner Center. In addition to managing the catering departments of several Hollywood hotels, she became president of the western division of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE).

Mary was a lifelong Catholic and attended Mass at St. Pius X Church. She was an avid gardener and could be seen tending her rose garden well into her 80's. Mary gave regularly to many various charitable organizations including the Wounded Warrior Project and the Red Cross, to name a few.

To Mary, family was everything. She kept in regular contact with everyone in her family, and health permitting, there was never a day that she wasn't on the phone with one of her children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. Never did a birthday or holiday go by that any one of her 27 progeny receive a perennial gift.

Mary was preceded in death by her husband Vincent Thomas in 1976, and her son David (beloved as the Rat) Thomas in 1978. She is survived by her sons Vince, Michael, John, and Christopher; her daughter Patricia; 8 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Her family would like to thank Guardian Angel Home Health Care, LaCrosse Health and Rehab, Dr. Emily Peterson and all the doctors, nurses, CNA's, and therapists at Kootenai Health Special thanks to all the amazing CNA's throughout the years: Angela, Brooke, Katlin, Nancy, Anita, Jessica, Tammy and Alec. You were a blessing in all our lives, you became like family. You were appreciated more than you can possibly know by both Mary and the family. God bless you all.

A memorial Mass will be held April 9th at 1:00 p.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. A viewing will be held prior to the Mass.

Yates Funeral Homes has been entrusted with the care of final arrangements. Please visit Mary's online memorial and sign her guestbook at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com