Phillip Myles Thomas may have seemed quiet and reserved to many, but to those closest to him, he was a deeply passionate and kind person.
The middle child of three sons, Phillip Thomas had a wonderful sense of humor, said his mother Valerie Thomas.
“He was hilarious,” Valerie Thomas said. “It was interesting because he was the bossy one, and he kind of took charge of the three boys. He was the one that seemed to make a lot of the decisions.”
Dhanya Thomas, communication senior and friend of Phillip Thomas, said Phillip had a unique level of maturity and radiated kindness to everyone around him.
“He was just so kind, honestly,” Dhanya Thomas said. “Me and my roommates would talk about how, out of all the guys that we knew in our friend group, Phillip was going to be the best dad. We could always tell that he was such a compassionate guy.”
Phillip Thomas was drawn to Texas A&M from his hometown of Houston.
“Phillip was shy and quiet and it took a little bit of time for him to come out, but when he made friends, they were really deep and close friends, and so he needed a sense of belonging, and because of all the traditions that Texas A&M has, that just fell right into place for him,” said Mike Thomas, Phillip Thomas’ father.
Phillip Thomas jumped at the opportunity to educate his family and friends about the Aggie spirit, Mike Thomas said.
“I can remember him coming home and opening the door after he got home and yelling, ‘Farmers fight!’ and I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Mike Thomas said. “So that would give him an opportunity to kind of explain to us who didn’t really know what was going on and talk about the yell leaders and the yells.”
Phillip Thomas was involved with several organizations at Texas A&M, including Alpha Phi Omega, the Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee and an intramural soccer team.
Mike Thomas said he and his son shared an interest in sports and that Phillip Thomas had a deep love for the game of soccer.
“It thrilled me to see how thrilled he would get — if the games were on early in the morning or late at night, he would be online trying to find ways he could find streams where he could follow the European Premier League. That was his big deal,” Mike Thomas said.
Mike Thomas said one of his fondest memories of Phillip Thomas was when he took him to a Houston Dynamo soccer match and could see his son’s excitement.
“I can remember us going into the stadium and him looking around, and I just see the broadest smile on his face,” Mike Thomas said. “He said nothing. He was just absorbing the moment, and I can just remember that experience — him actually being there, watching the Dynamo play, probably thinking, ‘Man, this is the greatest thing ever.’ That’s one of the special moments of my life.”
Valerie Thomas said Phillip Thomas combined his writing ability and his fascination with sports as the sports editor at his high school newspaper. Phillip Thomas also combined the two in his creative writing, Mike Thomas said.
“Phil was a lover of the written word — he loved reading, he loved writing short stories,” Mike Thomas said. “He has a book of short stories that he just kind of wrote. He had the sort of sports theme — he would write short stories of a young man trying to make it in college sports and then into the NFL.”
Valerie Thomas said Phillip Thomas’ unique laugh will truly be missed.
“He was kind of a quiet guy but when he laughed you could hear it everywhere,” Valerie Thomas said. “When he would laugh, everybody in the whole house could hear it, and so one of the big things we miss is just that laugh he had.”