City Manager Joe Thomas dies at 70

CLOVIS - For more than 42 years, Joe Thomas served the city of Clovis in a series of positions, each more difficult than the next. But he may have been the least difficult man in Clovis to ever deal with, according to his family and friends.

Thomas, who died Thursday at age 70, left behind a lifetime of service in the Clovis Police Department and various city administrative positions - including his last 11 years in the city manager position before his 2015 retirement.

"He's a person of great knowledge," said former City Manager Ray Mondragon. "People loved him. In the 30-plus years, I've never heard Joe raise his voice or really throw a tantrum or get ticked off. He was always the one that was calming others like me."

Thomas, born Oct. 10, 1950, in Tucumcari, first came to Clovis to join its police department. Roger "Bart" Bartosiewicz, who retired in 2004 as deputy police chief, said they reached out to Thomas after Officer Leon Morris put in a good word and it was clearly a good decision.

"He was very conscientious, quiet, soft-spoken, and very meticulous in his work," Bartosiewicz said. "He's going to be missed. He was pretty well respected throughout the community."

Thomas worked his way up from a uniform officer to become one of the first medical investigators on staff for CPD, and served as both the assistant chief and the interim chief before he moved into city administration. Prior to taking over as city manager, Thomas was the assistant city manager and served as its public works director.

Brandi Thomas, one of two daughters born to Joe and wife Mearl, said her dad always made time for the family and somehow knew his kids got in trouble before the kids had a chance to confess. She recalled driving home from college in Arizona one weekend, and knew word of her traffic stop would beat her home because the state police officer asked if she was Joe Thomas' daughter.

"He was a great dad," Brandi said. "I don't even know the real words. He supported everything we did. Mistakes we made were more lessons than consequences. He was the rock to our foundation."

T'Mara Parker, the oldest sister, said Brandi rarely got in trouble because she got to learn from her sister's mistakes.

"If you were two minutes early, you were late," Parker said of an average weekend night. "I'd try to get in 15 minutes early, and he had already received three phone calls about where I was.

"He'd use the police investigation on me. 'Sit down, tell me what happened. If you leave anything out, that's going to add days to your grounding.' I came to find out he had no clue; he just had a hint (and bluffed me into confessing)."

Thomas became city manager in 2004, and helped Clovis through countless challenges including the community's successful fight against the closure of Cannon Air Force Base and a tornado that struck in 2007.

During a retirement ceremony in 2015, Thomas said those challenges were oddly his favorite memories of the city manager position.

"There were a lot of issues and problems we had to deal with," Thomas said, "but with the support of the staff and the city employees it made it easy."

Thomas was diagnosed with kidney cancer in January of 2019, when he went to the hospital with what felt like a urinary tract infection. Doctors said he may have had a tumor for eight years, even though Thomas rarely showed sickness beyond a regular cold. He responded well to initial treatments, but his condition began to worsen in March.

"He liked to say everybody gets dealt their own hand of cards," Brandi Thomas said. "He played his cards to the fullest."

Mondragon said a week prior to Thomas' death, the two had a lengthy conversation about everything.

"He loved this community," Mondragon said. "He loved the work he did. When we finished talking, he did say, 'Mearl has been my rock; she's always been there when I needed her.'"

Services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Central Baptist Church.