Emma Kate Thomas

Emma Kate Thomas, age 89 of Riverview, Michigan, died on Sunday, June 22, 2025.

Emma Kate was born on March 22, 1936 in Naomi, Kentucky to Roxie and Ottis Trimble.

In November 1955, at the age of 19 years old, Emma Kate and her father left their family farm and traveled from Kentucky to Detroit for her father to work as a mechanic. While in Detroit, Emma Kate was offered a job by a family friend at Mechanical Mailing in Detroit where she worked stuffing mailing envelopes, and later met her husband, Joseph Vito Bonanno. They were married for 28 years, until his passing in January 1992.

On her first Sunday in Detroit, she attended Gilead Baptist Church. She remained a faithful member there until her passing. She and her husband Joe were married at Gilead in 1963. A few years after Joe’s passing, she married J.S. Thomas, another longtime, faithful member of Gilead Baptist Church. They were married for 20 years, until his passing in March 2015.

Emma Kate had a compassionate heart for the elderly and coordinated the church’s nursing home ministry. Each Sunday, she would coordinate the transfer of the neighboring nursing home patients who desired to cross over the parking lot to attend church. She did this until no longer physically able.

For many years, each Christmas, Emma Kate would facilitate the collection of money to purchase socks for all of the residents of the nursing home adjacent to the church. She coordinated a crew of people who would write the resident's names on the socks and distribute them to the nursing home residents. Putting her love of sewing to good use, Emma Kate also coordinated a “Bear Ministry,” which was composed of women who sewed stuffed bears and stuffed footballs to be given to local hospitals for the staff to hand out to children experiencing crisis.

Always with a heart for hurting families, she was also a faithful volunteer for funeral luncheons at Gilead - all who knew her enjoyed her special pretzel salad. Emma Kate modeled the compassion of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by serving the least of those and those hurting by using her gifts she was given to faithfully serve others.

Emma Kate is preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Bonanno; husband, J.S. Thomas; sister, Doris Flynn; sister-in-law Palma Bonanno; and niece, Debbie Williamson.

Emma Kate was a faithful friend to Sally, Tom, and Bill Morris and to countless others; loving sister-in-law to Finis; dear aunt (“Auntie”) to Rhonda (Garnett); great-aunt to Megan (John) and Christopher and their children, Taylor, Emma, Makayla (Josh and soon arriving baby boy), Kayla (Patrick), and Jazlyn; loving step-mom to Dennis (Betsy) and Doug (Kelly); devoted grandmother to Kristen (Derek), Kevin (Sarah), Chelsea (Joel), Kyle, Casey (Justin), Katie (Will), and Kirk (Meggan); adoring great-grandmother to Zachary, Braden, Kayleigh, Ezra, Logan, Paisleigh, Sullivan, Lucy, Lincoln, Leighton, Jude, Smith, Lennox, Tatum, Selene, Silas, Willow, and a soon-arriving Baby Girl Thomas.

Emma Kate will be laid to rest at Lakeside Memorial Gardens Cemetery of Somerset, KY.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests expressions of sympathy be made to the Gideon Bible Memorial Fund.

https://www.gideons.org/donate