Jeannie Thomas Memorial Fund
My name is Jordan and I am the eldest child and daughter of Jeannie Carole Thomas, who passed away in the evening on June 6th, 2020 on St. Simon’s Island, one of her favorite places in the world.
I set up this GoFundMe to support our immediate family as we plan a small celebration of life in my mother’s honor. Your support is unbelievably overwhelming during this sorrowful time. Thank you.
Jeannie Carole Meeks was born on January 3rd, 1973, to Thelma Dora and James Quinton Meeks of Alma, Georgia. She was the first baby of the 1973 calendar year in Bacon County, and her newborn photo made it into the local paper that year.
Jeannie grew up in Alma, Georgia, where she graduated from Bacon County High School in 1991. She met Rick Thomas, my father, in 1991 in Brunswick, GA, and they married in 1994.
Jeannie would best be described as a caretaker. When Jeannie was growing up, she basically raised her sister, Jaimee Meeks, because they were 11 years apart. This caused her to love young children from an early point in life, and it didn’t stop when she became a mother to her own children, my brother and me.
If you knew her and if she knew your babies, she loved them. It did not matter to her where they came from, who their parents were, the color of their skin, or even how bad they smelled sometimes. She loved them harder and more fiercely than anyone I’ve ever known. If you were a stranger and had a baby with you, she was that strange woman that would coo at you in the supermarket and ask you every question about your nugget.
She felt the same way about baby animals or strayed pets as she did about small children. She would coo and awe over baby chickens, ducklings, and she even came to love a pet snake we had growing up, surprisingly. She loved all animals and was the one who taught me to stop for turtles. Although most would disagree with this life lesson, she also taught me to “swerve” for crossing squirrels, deer, and frogs.
She loved youth and small children so much that she dedicated most of her life while we were growing up, and after we moved out, to substituting at local schools, working at local daycares, teaching children with special needs, and even caring for the elderly at times.
I thought she was brave for that. She said, “if you think about it, they’re children too, just in bigger bodies.” She knew deep down we were just all God’s children in His eyes.
Jeannie suffered with depression for most of her life. As long as I can remember, as her daughter, she struggled with it. Ultimately, my mother decided to take her own life at the beach on St. Simon’s Island around 8pm on June 6, 2020. I’d like to think she waited for the sunset and then felt God’s arm wrap around her.
Jeannie is survived by her husband, Rick Thomas; her son, Jeremy Thomas, his wife Hanna, and their son, Ezra Thomas; and her daughter, Jordan Thomas. The Meeks and Thomas families express their utmost gratitude for you all, your support and prayers during this heartbreaking time.
