Monroe Thomas lies at rest in the hill described in his own "Requiem". Surrounded by kin and encircled by the mountains that he loved, this educator, philosopher, poet and friend to all will forever be a part of the community that he loved. Born in 1903, Thomas lived and died in relative obscurity. Known to his community and his county, he suffered a lifetime of illness from osteomyelitis, a degenerative bone disease that his influence from reaching a wider sphere. Yet twice his name and his words reached a broader audience. In 1958, a year after his death, he was featured in an article about the Toe River Valley in National Geographic. Termed a "backwoods saint"by Malcolm Ross, the author, Thomas was praised for his intelligence and insight. The article ended with a reproduction in his own "immaculate script" of one of Monroe Thomas's poems, "Contentment": heat and light, Kind natures brought me food for strength and grace, And moon and stars have freed my soul by night.My neighbors have not looked on me for wings, Nor wished me in that hotter nether clime; And I've not looked on them for rotten things, Nor moaned that I was born out of my time. In 1984, Mars Hill College professor C. Robert Jones wrote a play about Thomas' life. The Gentle Giant of Kona. This was present in the area and well received by the audience In response to the play, Elberta Willis of Bakersville wrote a remembrance for the local newspaper, calling him a giant in every sense of the word.He was as gentle as a lamb. He was as stern as a battleship. She recalls his love of nature, and mentions that his affliction didn't get him down. He would walk with his cane over the hill, through the trees, across the bridge at Kona, sitting on the big rock above the river reciting poetry. She tells of his presents to her, useful things such as a box of Christmas cards with stamps for mailing and her first toothbrush with a tube of tooth paste. And she bemoans the effects of his disease and sorry that it kept him from going out in the world and reaching more people. Yet she recognizes that it kept him at home where he reached out and touched people's lives who really counted with him; people who really needed him. Among those he most closely the personal tale of his life. Of seven children born in the family, they are the lone survivors. Walter, A Mitchell County teacher, principal and school superintendent, and Savannah , a registered nurse have felt his influence throughout their lives. He was a top notch teacher, says Walter, who knew many teachers in his more than 40 years in the profession. Savananah experienced Monroe's teaching first hand in the one room schoolroom at Kona. I went to school in Monroe's class in the seventh grade. He taught all subjects to all grades, levels one through seven. Monroe was about the best teacher I ever went to school to. He made it interesting, made you want to learn, she says, her dark eyes smiling at the memories. One of Monroe's obsessions was education for the mountain communities. While he welcomed the increased material budgets, he deplored the shift in focus to the civilization outside the mountains. "Our schools have lost touch with our people. The consolidated schools are beehives of industry, pouring an imposing number of subjects through their pupil's ears, but our children have their heads and hearts turned away from the land where they will have to live and work and build their homes. "They know nothing about their land and heritage. They cannot name the wild flowers and plants ,much less make use of them," he said to Malcom Ross.
According to family and friends Monroe Thomas was never married.