Man beaten to death was decorated Vietnam War veteran

Larry Thomas usually did not shop at Albertsons, but sometimes he liked to buy their chicken wings.

The decorated Vietnam War veteran, 78, had started taking care of himself again in early May following a battle with pneumonia he contracted while caring for his wife, who died in April.

On May 3, while leaving an Albertsons parking lot at 1760 E. Charleston Blvd., police said Thomas was hit with a metal trash lid, causing him to fall to the ground and break his hip.

Thomas underwent surgery, but he died on May 10 from complications of a left hip fracture, coronary artery disease, hypertension and diabetes, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

The suspected attacker was arrested May 3 and later charged with murder.

“I still get emotional,” Thomas’ younger sister Linda Lumley said in an interview Friday. “He didn’t deserve to die that way. He was a good person. He served his country for many years.”

Thomas enlisted in the Army Rangers in 1961, at 17 years old, and left his home in southeast Kansas for Vietnam. He enlisted in the Air Force after the war and served until 1986, when he retired as a master sergeant. Lumley said Thomas did not share his war stories with his family until this year, when he finally told her that he was shot four times in Vietnam.

He had three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star Medal and a Bronze Star Medal he gave his mother. One leg was mostly titanium, and few years ago, Thomas underwent heart surgery and the surgeon had to pull pieces of shrapnel from under his heart, Lumley said.

After retiring from the Air Force, Thomas worked for the National Security Agency in Las Vegas. He and his wife, Zelma, bought the house they would live in for four decades, near North Mojave Road and East Owens Avenue. Zelma Thomas died three weeks before Thomas died, at 89 years old, after more than two months in the hospital. Thomas visited his partner of 48 years every day.

“Larry loved Las Vegas,” Lumley said from her Kansas home. “He liked poker at Sunset Station. When I went out to visit him after Zelma died, I told him we’d come back in the fall and when we come back we’ll go to the casino.”

The Thomases’ neighbor of 37 years, Patricia Hall, is now taking care of their black and white cat, Charlie. Hall said the Thomases were a quiet couple who liked to read and watch TV.

“Larry was a good guy and someone you could always depend on,” Hall said. “If you needed a ride somewhere or had to go pick up your car, Larry was right there.”

Lumley laid Zelma and Larry Thomas’ ashes next to the graves of her parents, grandparents and their oldest brother’s remains. She plans to purchase a headstone.

Lumley is now trying to remember the long life her brother had and not the way he died.

“I tell myself, lean on my faith,” she said. “This happened for a reason, and God has a plan for everything. He had a lot of living. He enjoyed life and people.”

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.