On October 10, 2021, Emily Marjorie Barry Thomas, 78, went to be with her Savior after a heroic battle with a serious illness.

Born in Jersey City, NJ, Emily was the eldest daughter of the late Arthur Jackson and Emily Leiding Barry and sister to Dorothy Jean Barry.

After attending Penn State, Emily graduated from Nursing School at Philadelphia General Hospital and then served as a nurse in Vietnam. During her tour of duty, she married a handsome SEAL, Robert J. Thomas, with whom she had her only child.

She continued her military career serving at Fort Dix and Fort Jackson and earned two master’s degrees from MCV and USC. In the ‘70s, she became the first Nurse Practitioner in SC and later retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant Commander. In her later years, Emily’s greatest joy was serving in Kenya with her church. She also loved gardening and raising Jack Russell Terriers.

Emily Thomas is survived by her daughter, Tracey Anne Thomas Jones (Jonathan); and grandsons, Nathaniel Evan Jones and Brennan Rhys Jones. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at Northeast Presbyterian Church, Columbia.

Read the full obituary and sign the online register at www.powersfuneralhome.net.