Leslia Deb Fredricks Thomas

Leslia was born March 11, 1961, in Lansing, Michigan, to Phillip L. Fredricks and Judith A. Fredricks (Sulpher). Her parents came from the Cadillac and Lucas areas of Michigan, and her father’s career with Ford Motor Company took the family from Michigan to St. Louis, Chicago, and ultimately Charlotte, North Carolina, during Leslia’s teenage years.

A gymnast in her youth, Leslia was creative, fiercely curious, independent, and very much a product of the flower-child generation. She carried that spirit throughout her life. She had an enduring fascination with physics, an appetite for conversation and discourse, and a genuine interest in people - who they were, what they thought, and what they needed.

Leslia married James B. Thomas on October 13, 1982. Together they purchased a farm of more than 400 acres in Gaffney, South Carolina, where they operated a construction company and served their community as volunteer firefighters. The farm was also a gathering place, remembered for a large concert they hosted featuring The Other People. In May 1986, Leslia gave birth to her only child, Jason M. Thomas.

Her working life was as varied and unconventional as she was. She worked as a nurse before eventually finding another community behind the stages, arenas, and sets of the entertainment industry.

Leslia earned her IATSE Local 322 union card in 1998, later joining Local 491 in 2011 and Local 347 in Columbia. As a stagehand and rigger, she spent decades behind the scenes of Charlotte’s entertainment industry, working concerts, theatrical productions, major events, and films including The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Hunger Games. She ran spotlight for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and was even part of the carpenter crew that built the Hurler roller coaster at Carowinds, later riding with the group during one of its first tests.

Her collection of backstage passes, guitar picks, credentials, and mementos tells only a small part of the story of a remarkable career spent behind the curtain.

For Leslia, work was rarely just about the work. It was about the people.

During the early 1990s, she devoted significant time to supporting Charlotte’s homeless community. Her home reflected that same instinct toward hospitality. Its doors were routinely open to stagehands, traveling workers, friends, people passing through Charlotte, and sometimes simply people who needed somewhere to land.

Leslia was known for her kindness, compassion, curiosity, and willingness to help people who needed it. She collected people from different walks of life and built community around them.

She could talk about physics, work, art, people, or the nature of the world for hours. She was unconventional, thoughtful, opinionated, funny, creative, and entirely herself.

Later in life, Leslia found love and companionship with her longtime friend Tony Farina. Their relationship became an important part of the final chapter of her life, and Tony remained by her side through the end.

Leslia lived with stage IV lung cancer for ten years. She died peacefully and in comfort on September 22, 2026, with her son, Tony, and loved ones by her side.

She leaves behind a community far larger than any list of relatives can capture.

Leslia is survived by her son, Jason M. Thomas; her partner, Tony Farina; her brother, David Fredricks, and his wife, Sally; her nephew and niece, Phillip Fredricks and Carson Fredricks; Phillip’s wife, Gabby, and their two daughters Riley and Stella; her aunt Kitty and uncle Mike; and uncle Tom; extended family in Michigan; and the many friends, coworkers, union brothers and sisters, neighbors, and people whose lives became intertwined with hers over more than six decades.

Her life cannot be measured simply by the places she lived or the jobs she held. It is better measured in people: the people she welcomed, helped, challenged, fed, housed, worked beside, talked with, cared for, and loved.

She made room for people. And a great many people will miss her.

A Celebration of Life

A celebration of Leslia’s life will be held at Smokey Joe’s Cafe on Sunday, October 25, 2026 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Friends, family, colleagues, and all those who knew Leslia are welcome. Those who wish are invited to speak, share stories, perform live music, or simply gather in her honor.

Snacks and light catering will be provided, and guests are welcome to bring food to share.