Melody C. Thomas
Melody was born at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1951. Like most Air Force families, they moved around a lot - California, Okinawa, The Netherlands, Virginia, New York. In 1964, her parents split up. Her mother took the five children and moved to Newport News, Virginia. Her mother's sister, Jean, and her three children moved in with them. Melody was 12 and the youngest was a year old. The two women worked and Melody was left to watch over the eight of them. After a year, Aunt Jean and her mother had a fight and each went her own way. Melody's mother moved the family to a farm in Mataponi, Virginia in June. Her mother continued to work in Newport News and came out to the farm on weekends. A friend of her mother, with her two children, moved to the farm and watched over everyone. In September, it turned out there was not enough room in the local school for all the children so the family packed up and moved to East Islip, New York, to live with another of her mother's sisters. Aunt Annie had six children of her own and the house was very crowded with eleven children. After a few months, Melody, two brothers and her sister went to live with their father and his partner (the youngest boy went to stay with another aunt). The house was very small and things were tense as her father's partner didn't want the children there. She did mischievous things to make their father think they were miscreants. Eventually, things went sour and Melody was thrown out of the house. A week later, her brother was thrown out as well. Two weeks after that, her sister and other brother ran away. Their mother took them to live with another sister, Mary, in New York City. The apartment was very small and the overcrowding was difficult to tolerate. After a while, Melody, her mother, sister and two brothers moved out and lived in the car while their mother tried to figure out what to do. She bought a mobile home in a trailer park but when she showed up with her kids, she was turned away. So she pulled the trailer out of the park and had it placed in a parking area of the gas station where she worked. It had no hookups - no heat, no water, no working toilet. They used the dirty, greasy bathroom in the back of the gas station. Social services soon showed up and the family went on welfare. Melody's family was moved to an apartment in a two family house and things settled down. This was 1964 and the place was on Long Island in Islip, New York.
Melody graduated from Islip High School in 1969 and married her childhood sweetheart in 1971. She got a job with the New York State Department of Transportation as a Grade-3 Clerk and was later promoted to Grade-5 Stenographer. In 1975, she moved to the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury as a Grade-9 Senior Stenographer. Another promotion came through to Grade-12 Administrative Assistant before Melody moved from the competitive class in the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) to the non-competitive class in United University Professionals (UUP). She moved from the Office of Academic Administration to the Office of the President before going out on maternity leave in 1981. There was a short return to the college before her second child was born in 1984. When she went on maternity leave the second time, she did not return to administration at the College at Old Westbury.
As a way to bring income into the house and stay home with her children, Melody began teaching nights as an adjunct professor at the State University of New York at Farmingdale. Over the years, she expanded adjunct teaching positions to include SUNY/College at Old Westbury and Suffolk County Community College. She taught classes in organizational behavior, marketing, business math, management theory, business statistics, introduction to computers, and freshman orientation. There was also a community contract with local businesses to train employees in basic reading, writing, and mathematics.
Melody enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 1975. Her first assignment was to Company E of the 42nd Aviation Battalion. It was a fun assignment and she decided she wanted to be a helicopter pilot. But there were requirements to be met. First, she needed to obtain 50% of a bachelor degree. Once that was done, Melody had to attend Officer Candidate School to earn a commission as a second lieutenant (2LT). Prerequisites for flight school met in 1979, 2LT Thomas put in her application. It came back rejected because she did not meet the height requirement. Dejected, she transferred to the 364th Support Group in the US Army Reserve where her assignments included Rear Area Security Officer and Headquarters Commandant. After transferring to headquarters of the 77th US Regional Support Command at Fort Totten in Queens, New York, she served assignments in the offices of Inspector General, Internal Review, Public Affairs, Liaison to the 800th MP Brigade, and Training Officer. Major Thomas then transferred to the 1150th USAR Forces School in Fort Hamilton, NY as the Operations and Training Officer. That was followed by a transfer to the 301st Area Support Group where she served as the Host Nation Liaison then Operations & Training Officer. Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Thomas transferred to the 78th Training Division in Edison, New Jersey, in 2001. In 2005, she was deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for one year. Over the years, Thomas was awarded over 40 medals and ribbons to include the Bronze Star. Qualifications included maintainence officer, transportation officer, military police officer, quartermaster officer, public affairs officer, training & operations officer, inspector general, and logistician.
In 2009, Melody went to work as the budget and personnel manager in the technology department at Stony Brook University in New York. In 2012, she retired from the work world. The next year, she and her husband, Paul, turned the keys to the house over to their daughter, climbed into their RV, and set out to exolore the USA. While there have been regular stops back on Long Island, New York, they have been traveling around the country since. They have visited all 50 states, almost all Canadian provinces, and one town in Mexico.
Melody was diagnosed with Small Lymphocitic Lymphoma in 2017. She began chemotherapy in 2019 and has been doing very well. There are quarterly visits to the doctor but, otherwise, her travels have been unimpeded. Melody and her husband are now in "The Zone" as she likes to call it. She has no idea how long they will be able to enjoy this mortal life. Her favorite saying is, "I am going to live forever or die trying."
Melody graduated from Islip High School in 1969 and married her childhood sweetheart in 1971. She got a job with the New York State Department of Transportation as a Grade-3 Clerk and was later promoted to Grade-5 Stenographer. In 1975, she moved to the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury as a Grade-9 Senior Stenographer. Another promotion came through to Grade-12 Administrative Assistant before Melody moved from the competitive class in the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) to the non-competitive class in United University Professionals (UUP). She moved from the Office of Academic Administration to the Office of the President before going out on maternity leave in 1981. There was a short return to the college before her second child was born in 1984. When she went on maternity leave the second time, she did not return to administration at the College at Old Westbury.
As a way to bring income into the house and stay home with her children, Melody began teaching nights as an adjunct professor at the State University of New York at Farmingdale. Over the years, she expanded adjunct teaching positions to include SUNY/College at Old Westbury and Suffolk County Community College. She taught classes in organizational behavior, marketing, business math, management theory, business statistics, introduction to computers, and freshman orientation. There was also a community contract with local businesses to train employees in basic reading, writing, and mathematics.
Melody enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 1975. Her first assignment was to Company E of the 42nd Aviation Battalion. It was a fun assignment and she decided she wanted to be a helicopter pilot. But there were requirements to be met. First, she needed to obtain 50% of a bachelor degree. Once that was done, Melody had to attend Officer Candidate School to earn a commission as a second lieutenant (2LT). Prerequisites for flight school met in 1979, 2LT Thomas put in her application. It came back rejected because she did not meet the height requirement. Dejected, she transferred to the 364th Support Group in the US Army Reserve where her assignments included Rear Area Security Officer and Headquarters Commandant. After transferring to headquarters of the 77th US Regional Support Command at Fort Totten in Queens, New York, she served assignments in the offices of Inspector General, Internal Review, Public Affairs, Liaison to the 800th MP Brigade, and Training Officer. Major Thomas then transferred to the 1150th USAR Forces School in Fort Hamilton, NY as the Operations and Training Officer. That was followed by a transfer to the 301st Area Support Group where she served as the Host Nation Liaison then Operations & Training Officer. Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Thomas transferred to the 78th Training Division in Edison, New Jersey, in 2001. In 2005, she was deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for one year. Over the years, Thomas was awarded over 40 medals and ribbons to include the Bronze Star. Qualifications included maintainence officer, transportation officer, military police officer, quartermaster officer, public affairs officer, training & operations officer, inspector general, and logistician.
In 2009, Melody went to work as the budget and personnel manager in the technology department at Stony Brook University in New York. In 2012, she retired from the work world. The next year, she and her husband, Paul, turned the keys to the house over to their daughter, climbed into their RV, and set out to exolore the USA. While there have been regular stops back on Long Island, New York, they have been traveling around the country since. They have visited all 50 states, almost all Canadian provinces, and one town in Mexico.
Melody was diagnosed with Small Lymphocitic Lymphoma in 2017. She began chemotherapy in 2019 and has been doing very well. There are quarterly visits to the doctor but, otherwise, her travels have been unimpeded. Melody and her husband are now in "The Zone" as she likes to call it. She has no idea how long they will be able to enjoy this mortal life. Her favorite saying is, "I am going to live forever or die trying."
.JPG)
