Mrs. Marie Thomas King of Carthage died at the age of 80 with her family at her bedside at 11:30 p.m. Thursday evening January 2, 2025 and was pronounced deceased at 12:57 a.m. Friday morning January 3, 2025 at her Third Avenue East home under the care of Gentiva Hospice of Livingston.
Funeral services from the Carthage Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home will be conducted on Monday afternoon January 6th at 1 p.m. with Bro. Tommy Ferguson and Bro. Billy Jones officiating. Burial will follow beside her husband, Kenneth and son Shane, in the Garden of Gethsemane at the Smith County Memorial Gardens.
Visitation at Sanderson in Carthage will be on Sunday from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. and again on Monday from 10 a.m. until the 1 p.m. funeral services.
One of nine children, four daughters and five sons, she was born Lellie Marie Thomas in the Turkey Creek Community on December 20, 1944 and was the daughter of the late Gena (Gene) McMillan Thomas who died November 19, 1978 at the age of 67 and Colena Dixie Henry Thomas Allison who died June 10, 1996 at the age of 71.
Three brothers preceded her in death, Frank Edward Thomas who died at birth on January 28, 1943, Fred Allen Thomas who died November 7, 2003 at the age of 68 and Phillip Furd Thomas who died April 8, 2013 at the age of 50.
Mrs. King was a member of the 1963 graduating class at Smith County High School where she majored in home economics, a class she took all four years. She was also a member of the Smith County High School marching band all four years, was in the Spring Festival her sophomore and junior year, and her senior year was selected in the bands Who’s Who. It was stated in the ’63 Owl annual that she was helpful, casual and attentive and her peers made the statement about her that; “truth is the most valuable thing we have”.
On June 11, 1964 at the former Carthage Emmanuel Church of Christ in Carthage, she was united in marriage to Elmwood Community native, James Kenneth King who died at the age of 78 on October 10, 2020 following over fifty-six years of marriage. They were wed by then church pastor, Rev. Rob Roy Banks with Audrey McBride Grisham and Elizabeth Grisham Thomas as witnesses.
Mr. and Mrs. King were preceded in death by a son, Rondal Shane King who died at the age of 29 in a single car automobile accident in Wilson County on November 15, 1998.
Mrs. King was a charter member of the Full Gospel Tabernacle In Jesus Name in Lebanon where she retained her membership until her death.
Mrs. King was faithful in attendance and a dedicated employee in the deli department in Lebanon from her employment in 1992 until her retirement in 2004 and prior to that was a longtime respected employee of the Texas Boot Company in Lebanon.
Surviving Marie are her two sons, Michael “Coach” King and Josh King both of Carthage; three sisters, Barbara Thomas Poston of Carthage, Patricia Thomas of Gallatin, and Carol Thomas Reece of the Halls Hill Community; two brothers, Billy Thomas and wife Elizabeth Grisham Thomas of the Turkey Creek Community, Ray Thomas of the Pavilion in South Carthage.
Pallbearers: Corey & Scotty Reece, Larry Guffey Jr., Noah & Eli King, Chris Thackxton
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marie, please visit our floral store.
This obituary was published by Sanderson Funeral Homes, Inc. – Carthage.
This obituary was published by Obituaries provided free for the community.
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