Bernard I. Thomas [1939-2021]

Aug. 2—Bernard "Bernie" Thomas, a retired Toledo firefighter, died Saturday at the Genacross Lutheran Services-Wolf Creek Campus in Holland. He was 82.

Mr. Thomas died of heart failure, his daughter, Tiffany Thomas said.

Her father spent more than two decades of his career at the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department's Station 7, located on Franklin Avenue.

He gained a reputation as a talented cook there.

Firefighters are like family and, as a child, the crew at that station in particular became a fixture in her and her brother's lives, Ms. Thomas said.

"It's one big happy family. They're like brothers. Through thick and thin, they're just always there," Ms. Thomas said.

Bernard Thomas was born on July 21, 1939, in Toledo to Dorothy and Irv Thomas.

His mother was a homemaker and his father an executive at DeVilbiss Corporation. Along with his two sisters, Mr. Thomas spent his childhood in Toledo.

After graduating from Central Catholic High School in 1957, Mr. Thomas joined the U.S. Army National Guard, where he served for six years. He rose to the rank of sergeant.

Following his service, Mr. Thomas began his career as a Toledo firefighter.

It spanned 28 years. He retired in 1994.

Her father was the station's go-to chef, Ms. Thomas said.

His wife, Stella, often told her children that Mr. Thomas didn't even know how to fry an egg when they got married back in 1965, their daughter said.

"He learned how to cook at the fire department. Every morning he'd peel a 10-pound bag of potatoes and make breakfast," Ms. Thomas said.

After becoming quite handy in the kitchen, Ms. Thomas said her father didn't have a favorite meal or a signature dish.

"He made it all," she said. Her father cooked for every family gathering.

In his retirement, Mr. Thomas would spend swaths of free time with his buddies from the station. They'd get together on almost a weekly basis at times, Ms. Thomas said.

Throughout his tenure at Toledo Fire, Mr. Thomas worked part-time in the warehouse of McGranahan Distributing in downtown Toledo. He stayed there for 31 years until the business closed.

Ms. Thomas said her father was the kind of man to always provide for his family.

"He was really hardworking. That was instilled in him and he passed that down," Ms. Thomas said.

The firefighter was an experienced outdoorsman. He loved to fish and often brought his family and friends together at his cottage on Wampler's Lake in Southern Michigan. In the last years of his mother's life, he was known to take her there to fish and relax on the weekends.

"He was always putting other people first," Ms. Thomas said of her father.

The cottage remains in the care of his children, who said they look forward to spending time in the place their father loved throughout the remainder of this summer and in years to come.

Mr. Thomas is preceded in death by his wife, Stella. Surviving are his daughter, Tiffany Thomas, son, Derek Thomas; sisters, Jeanne Neary and Ruth Hanclosky, and two grandchildren.

A service for friends will be held at Coyle Funeral Home, 1770 S. Reynolds Rd., on Aug. 8 from 2 to 8 p.m. A "Last Alarm Service" will be held at 7 p.m.

Mr. Thomas' funeral will begin at Coyle on Aug. 9 at 9:15 a.m. with a mass to follow at Little Flower Catholic Church at 10 a.m.