Curtis Thomas Sr., 100, electrician and block captain

Curtis Thomas Sr., 100, a retired electrician who brought nearly two dozen others into the trade and who was a block captain in Germantown for 40 years, died Thursday, Aug. 28, at Dresher Hill Health & Rehabilitation Center.

He was the father of State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas.

Mr. Thomas, who served with the Tuskegee Airmen, was one of the first African Americans to work for Philadelphia Gas Works, where he was an electrician for more than 40 years, said his son.

He also installed the Christmas lights at his church, Jones Tabernacle A.M.E. at 20th and Diamond Streets, and on the nearby blocks of Woodstock and Van Pelt Streets for many years, his son said.

During his long career as an electrician, Mr. Thomas brought 21 young men into the trade, his son said.

"Young people would come up and want to know what he was doing. And he would ask them, 'What are you doing?' Before you know it, he had them working with him," Rep. Thomas said.

Mr. Thomas would sponsor those who continued to work with him for training and jobs in the field.

After he retired, Mr. Thomas continued to do electrical work into his 90s.

He was a member of Jones Tabernacle A.M.E. Church for 52 years and started a Cub Scout troop there.

He was a block captain for the 6700 block of Musgrave Street in Germantown for more than 40 years.

Mr. Thomas was well-known to the city's political leaders, such as former Gov. Ed Rendell, former Mayor W. Wilson Goode, and the late State Rep. David P. Richardson, for registering many voters and for getting out the vote on Election Day.

As a block captain, his work in keeping the block clean, establishing a town watch, and assisting the unemployed won accolades from the NAACP and the Germantown Civic Association.

He was a longtime Mason.

Mr. Thomas was born Sept. 24, 1913, in Stewart County, Ga., the oldest of five children of Charlie Mae Williams and Arthur Thomas.

He attended secondary school in Georgia before enlisting in the Army. Mr. Thomas served as a navigator for the Tuskegee Airmen, the Army's first black aviators.

Before relocating to Philadelphia in the 1940s, Mr. Thomas married Hattie Mae Jackson of Albany, Ga. The couple had six children.

After the death of his wife in 1994, Mr. Thomas married Helen Williams-Thomas in 2008.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Thomas is survived by a daughter, Geraldine Thomas; 15 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and a sister.

A funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 5, at Jones Tabernacle A.M.E. Church, 2021 Diamond St., with a viewing from 9 to 11 a.m. at the church. Burial will be in Ivy Hill Cemetery.