Remembering Paul Thomas UGA community mourns loss

2019. Just two weeks in to his retirement from UGA, Dr. Thomas was on a trip visiting friends and former students - one of his favorite activities.

Prior to his passing, Dr. Thomas was working on setting up a scholarship; his desire was to see students studying floriculture receive funding for their studies. As a collective group, we are working to make the scholarship endowment a reality. Gifts of all sizes will help us reach $25,000 to permanently endow the Paul Thomas Floriculture Scholarship. His family will receive a list of those contributing in his memory.

His long list of achievements, while impressive, can be summarized by one overarching theme of Dr. Paul Thomas’ life: Service. Paul was a rare individual who never shied away from an opportunity to help others. Both inside the formal university environment or outside serving the Boy Scouts or other community causes, Paul never stepped away from a challenge. He also never wavered in his desire to promote others; from undergraduate and graduate students to high-school students he mentored through programs like UGA Young Scholars. Paul’s dedication to lifting others up was infectious, certainly noticed by his students, peers and friends alike. His passing has left a huge void, not likely to be filled, yet we hope that with a collective effort his legacy can live on.

Gifts to support the Paul Thomas Floriculture Endowment can be made online: