Mary Jean Swift Thomas

A Memorial Mass will be said at 10 a.m., Saturday, February 9, 2013, at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Natchitoches, Louisiana, honoring the life of Mary Jean Swift Thomas, 90, who passed away peacefully on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. She is survived by her husband, Gerard Francis Thomas, Jr. They were married on February 10, 1946. She is also survived by their children: Gerard F. Thomas, III, his wife Elizabeth Hollier Thomas, of Lafayette, and their children, Kathryn Thomas Ledet and her husband Chris, Stacey Engelbrecht Rufe and her husband Chris, and Stephen Engelbrecht and his wife Kristin. Richard S. Thomas, his wife Denise Martin Thomas, of Natchitoches, and their children, Sidney and Harrison. Jeffery H. Thomas, his wife Samantha Palache Thomas, of Natchitoches, his daughter Caroline, and Samantha’s daughter Gabriella, and Carol Glock Peterson, mother of Caroline. Robert C. Thomas, his wife Tama Blanchard Thomas, of Natchitoches, and their children, Clayton and Michael. Patrick S. Thomas, his wife Kelly Dolan Thomas, of Frisco, Texas, and their children, Patrick and Erin. Stephen G. Thomas, a resident of Holy Angels School in Shreveport. She is also survived by her granddaughter Lindsay R. Pendleton, great grandchildren, Cooper Puryear, Charlotte and Nora Rufe, and Annie and Luc Engelbrecht, and numerous nieces and nephews of the Swift, Daspit and Rosenthal families. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Marcia Thomas Pendleton, her parents, Clayton and Clementine (Howerton) Swift, her sisters Hallie Josephine Daspit and Elizabeth Rosenthal, and her brothers Charles H. Swift and John Benjamin Swift. Mary Jean was born on May 21, 1922, in Elmer, Louisiana. She graduated from what is now Northwestern State University, where she was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority. She was a parishioner of the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception where she was a Eucharistic Minister. She was a past president of the Natchitoches Service League, past president of the Natchitoches-Northwestern Symphony Society, past president of the Natchitoches Association for Retarded Children, and a member of Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches. She was a Silver Life Master Member of the American Contract Bridge League. Mary Jean donated her body to science through Louisiana State University Medical School in Shreveport, Louisiana. A reception and visitation with family and friends will be held at Merci Beaucoup Restaurant in Natchitoches immediately following the Memorial Mass.