Father Wilbur Thomas
April 17, 1947 – Dec. 6, 2022
ASHEVILLE — The Very Rev. Wilbur N. Thomas, a trailblazing priest who served God and His people for 50 years as the Diocese of Charlotte’s first African American priest, passed away peacefully Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, at CarePartners Hospice Solace Center in Asheville, surrounded by family and friends. He was 75.
A Vigil and Rosary was held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, at the Basilica of St. Lawrence, located at 97 Haywood St. in Asheville, N.C. The Funeral Mass was celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022 with Monsignor Michael Becker as principal celebrant, also at the Basilica of St. Lawrence. The rite of committal and inurnment was held Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, at St. Eugene Catholic Church, located at 72 Culvern St. in Asheville.
Wilbur Neely Thomas was born April 17, 1947, in Charlotte, N.C., and adopted as an infant by Wilbur O. and Ruth N. Thomas of Lexington, N.C. The Thomases were Methodist, but after a stroke left his dad bedridden when Wilbur was 10, the example of the local priest who came to visit inspired his parents to convert to Catholicism. When he was 12, Wilbur too decided to become Catholic.
In 1960, he was baptized and confirmed at his local parish, Our Lady of the Rosary in Lexington, by the Most Rev. Vincent S. Waters of the Diocese of Raleigh. His relationship with the Lord continued to deepen as he served at Mass and learned as much as he could about his newfound Catholic faith. As a teenager, he felt the call to become a priest while praying before the Blessed Sacrament at his Catholic high school, Bishop McGuinness. At first his parents disapproved of their only son becoming a priest, but by the time he was a senior in high school they consented. Not long after he turned 18, he was accepted into the seminary program for the Raleigh diocese and entered the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
Father Thomas was ordained to the priesthood on March 26, 1973 – the Feast of the Annunciation – by Bishop Waters at Our Lady of the Annunciation Catholic Church in Havelock, N.C. At the time, he was among the first African American Catholic priests ordained in North Carolina, and shortly after his ordination, he transferred to the newly formed Diocese of Charlotte as its first black Catholic priest.
Throughout his life Father Thomas remained devoted to serving the Lord and His people, and his tireless work as a priest encompassed parish ministry, ministry to young people and college students, ecumenical outreach and dialogue, and leadership that inspired laypeople across the diocese to become more involved in the life of the Church.
Father Thomas was a trailblazer in many ways, and not only as the first African American priest incardinated for the new Charlotte diocese. He laid the foundations for many of the ministries and programs in which tens of thousands of Catholics throughout western North Carolina now participate.
Among his first achievements was in building up ministry for young people in western North Carolina. He was appointed the Charlotte diocese’s first Catholic Campus Minister, serving at Wake Forest University, and he helped develop the diocese’s Campus Ministry Program. He also developed the diocese’s Youth Ministry Program and its Diocesan Youth Council, as well as serving as the first Youth Ministry director from 1976 to 1979.
In 1979, he helped organize the diocese’s second Diocesan Assembly on Evangelization, where he was its keynote speaker, and he helped coordinate planning assemblies that led up to the pivotal Diocese of Charlotte Synod in 1986-1987.
Father Thomas was also a leader for the early Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement, serving as its chaplain.
As an African American priest, Father Thomas inspired fellow black Catholics to get involved in the Church. He organized the diocese’s Committee of Black Catholic Ministry and Evangelization, now called the African American Affairs Ministry, and he helped arrange the diocese’s first Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. Even after his retirement in 2018 from active ministry, he continued to support and encourage the African American Affairs Ministry and its work.
Nationally, he was a longtime contributor to the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus (NBCCC) and its liaison to the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP).
He was also an ardent advocate for ecumenical outreach to other Christian denominations, particularly the Lutheran Church, where he was instrumental in establishing the Aquinas-Luther Conference, which began under the late Lutheran Bishop Michael McDaniel, then head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Father Thomas was a rock of fraternal support, encouragement and counsel for his fellow priests, particularly in his role as diocesan Vicar of Priests from 1998 to 2002.
His pastoral ministry included serving as assistant pastor of St. Leo the Great in Winston-Salem (1973-1975) and of St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte (1975-1977); and as pastor of Our Lady of the Annunciation in Albemarle (1977-1979); Our Lady of Consolation in Charlotte (1979-1986), where he was the historically black Catholic parish’s first African American pastor; St. Aloysius in Hickory (1987-1998); St. Francis of Assisi in Jefferson (1999); and as rector of the historic Basilica of
St. Lawrence in Asheville (2000-2018), his last pastoral assignment before retirement.
Later in life after the deaths of his adoptive parents, Father Thomas was able to locate his biological family and developed a close relationship with his half-sisters, Elaine Lash Sutton and Dr. Adrienne Lash Jones, and their families. He enjoyed spending holidays and reunions with his newfound family. He learned that their shared biological father, Wiley Immanuel Lash of Salisbury, had been a successful businessman, the leader of local desegregation efforts, and the first African American man to serve as mayor of Salisbury. His mother, Marion Gunn, had been a brilliant college graduate who worked at Livingstone College as secretary to the president.
His family, friends and fellow priests will remember his calming and melodic voice, his wise counsel, the charity and love he shared with everyone he knew, and most importantly, his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. His strong faith powered his lifelong efforts to help build up the Church in western North Carolina, and he encouraged everyone he encountered – whether it was young people, couples, families or his fellow priests – to always turn to God in prayer, keeping Him at the center of their lives and letting Him guide them.
He once told the Catholic News Herald, the diocese’s newspaper, that he cherished the time he spent praying before a crucifix and the Blessed Sacrament several times each day.
“That relationship has been the anchor for me,” he said. “Everything flows from that. I trust in His leading and guiding me through His Spirit. I trust myself to His will and His purpose for me every day.”
Father Thomas was preceded in death by his biological and adoptive parents, and his half-sister, Dr. Adrienne Lash Jones.
Survivors include his sister, Elaine Lash Sutton of Cary, N.C.; nieces Denise, Robin, Taborah, Shannon and Donnah; nephews Derek, Darryl and Brian; his fellow priests and numerous friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Father Wilbur Thomas Endowment Fund, c/o Foundation of the Diocese of Charlotte, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, N.C. 28203. Make checks payable to: Foundation of the Diocese of Charlotte, and note the endowment name in the memo line.
Groce Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Asheville is in charge of the arrangements.
Learn more about his legacy: Remembering Father Thomas, trailblazing African American priest of western North Carolina.
