William R. Thomas

William Robert Thomas Age 59, of Mount Lebanon, Pa., died on Sunday, June 20, 2021 in the loving care of his family and the kind staff of Canterbury Place Family Hospice after a brief and courageous battle with an aggressive cancer. Bill was an amazing, loving, devoted and supportive husband to Teresa Sokol Thomas and father to his son, Ian Michael Thomas. He worked hard to make everything in their lives easier and it was their honor, in Bill's final days, to make living and loving as easy as possible for him. Born April 12, 1962, in Columbus, Ohio, Bill was a 1984 graduate of Ohio University and a 1997 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned a Master's of Design degree in Communications Planning and Design. He was an excellent writer and editor. He dabbled in science fiction writing and trained as a voice over specialist, providing lead-ins for podcasts hosted by his employer, the Software Engineering Institute. He had a career as a reporter and editor for a number of newspapers and magazines in New York, Texas, and Ohio, before joining Carnegie Mellon as the editor of the graduate business school magazine. He was a long time employee of Carnegie Mellon, where he managed Communication Services for the Software Engineering Institute. While at the SEI, he was honored to edit the book, Reflections on Management with Watts S. Humphrey, a pioneer in software engineering and software quality. Bill was a committed resident of Mount Lebanon and served as a member of its Parks Advisory Board. With community support, he and other neighbors worked together to make significant improvements to Williamsburg Park in Mount Lebanon's Sunset HIlls. He was a Friend of the Mount Lebanon Library and took great pleasure in helping with the library's beer fest fundraisers. In addition to his wife and son, Bill is survived by a loving family in Ohio, including his mother, Mary Thomas of Lexington, Ohio, brother Fred and wife Joyce Thomas of Ashland, sister Kathy Russell and Tom of Lexington, and sister Patty Sulesky and husband Bill Sulesky of Medina. He was brother in all but blood to the Sokol family, including Mary Sokol (Ken) Martin of Midway, Tim (Jackie) Sokol of New Albany, Ohio, Mark (Chrissy) Sokol of Scottdale, Cathy Sokol of West Newton and John Sokol of Rostraver. He enjoyed the many adventures of and took pride in the many accomplishments of his nieces and nephews on both sides of his family. He is preceded in death by his father, Rodger Frederick Thomas, and sister in law, Bernadette Sokol. Arrangements are being handled by the D'Alessandro Funeral Home and Crematory, Pittsburgh. Friends are asked to meet at St. Anne Church, 400 Hoodridge Drive, Castle Shannon, on Friday, July 2, at 11 a.m. for a memorial mass. If desired, donations in Bill's memory may be made to GoFund Me account established by the family at https://www.gofundme.com/bill-thomas-celebration-of-a-wonderful-life to help with his son's senior year in college.

William R. Thomas

April 12, 1962 - June 20, 2021