Leila Olivia Thomas

Born on April 4, 1934, in Abbeville, South Carolina, Leila was the youngest daughter of Lessie Murray and younger sister to Trudie Anne Cole. The Murray women carried grace like a birthright. The family soon relocated to Hempstead, New York, chasing new beginnings. There, Leila met and married Dale Thomas, and together they welcomed their beloved daughter, Pamela.

She then bravely began her career in nursing, a profession that matched her spirit of care and her belief in healing, both body and soul. But Leila’s story was not one of stillness, but of sacred evolution. In her fifties, with characteristic courage, she enrolled in mortuary school and became a licensed funeral director, a calling that demanded grace in the presence of grief and strength when others needed to be held. Her work was ministry in motion.

In 1994, Leila and Pamela moved to Augusta, Georgia, where Leila became a devoted member of Whole Life Ministries. Her faith was never performative, it was embodied. She prayed with power, lived with purpose, and found joy in serving quietly, deeply, and without fanfare.

But there was a role she cherished above all: Grandmother. Her bond with her grandson, Zachary Thomas and granddaughter Eklesia Stubs was magnetic and mighty, a love that shaped them to pursue greatness. Their connection, radiant and tender, was the kind that builds legacies of achievement and love.

Leila never stopped moving. In her late forties she became an avid runner, she kept walking—mile after mile—into her seventies.

After enduring the unimaginable loss of her daughter Pamela, she later relocated to California, where she remained surrounded by family, love, and the spiritual comfort that had always guided her path.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Lessie Murray, her sister Trudie, her niece Lisa Denny and her daughter, Pamela Thomas.

She leaves to carry her light forward:

Her grandchildren, Zachary Thomas (his steadfast wife, Rebekah Thomas) and Eklesia Stubbs;

Her great-grandchildren, Hannah and Savannah Thomas; Her cherished great-niece, Belle Allen, who walked beside her in spirit and story; And a wide, woven tapestry of cousins, extended family, and kindred spirits who were blessed by her presence.

Leila Olivia Thomas lived a life of grace wrapped in grit, quiet wisdom, and fierce devotion. She was a nurturer, a guide, a witness to life's fragility and its beauty. She will be missed, yes, but more importantly, she will be remembered. In every prayer whispered, every heart held, and every step taken in love.

For her Celebration of Life service at Fairhaven Memorial Park Mortuary, please note that the only entrance is off of Fairhaven Ave. You cannot enter the location from E Santa Clara Ave. If you place "Waverly Chapel" into the GPS, that sometimes does give a more direct route to the location.