It is with great sorrow that we say goodbye to our beloved Nick Thomas, one of our Founders and the Treasurer of the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts. Nick’s contributions to BFMA are immeasurable and he will be missed.

Nicholas B. Thomas

May 27, 1933 ~ December 11, 2021

Nicholas B. “Nick” Thomas passed away peacefully on Saturday, December 11, 2021 at his home in Blue Bell, PA at the age of 88. He was born on May 27, 1933 in Sharon, PA to the late Nicholas and Mary (Biligan) Thomas, Romanian immigrants looking for a better life in America. Nick graduated from Holy Cross College in 1955 (the first member of his family to do so), where he participated in the ROTC program.

Upon graduation he served honorably in the United States Air Force as an F-86 jet fighter pilot in a top-secret squadron associated with the development of the United States Air Defense Command System in Bedford, Massachusetts. While there, he was recruited to join the Air Defense Command Basketball Team stationed at Stewart Air Force Base in Newburgh, NY where he starred as a guard, served as an Air Traffic Controller, and in 1959 married the love of his life. At the conclusion of his military service in 1960, he spent another eight years as a pilot in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.

Much of his post-military career was in the Life Insurance business, first as an Assistant Manager with New York Life and then as Regional General Manager for Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company. He served for two years as President of the Montgomery County Life Underwriters Association. In 1981 Nick and his wife Liz founded Chalif Inc., an award-winning condiment company that grew to international distribution over a ten-year period. In 1983 Chalif Hot ‘n Sweet Mustard won the Domestic Fine Food Award from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT).

In 1992 the Thomas’ established Thomas & Company to provide consulting services and seminars for other gourmet food companies. When Liz’s brother died in 2008, they founded the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts, in his honor, to give annual Springboard Grants to talented young artists pursuing excellence in the Performing Arts. Nick served as treasurer of the Foundation until his death. Despite his successes and accomplishments, his top priority was the love of his family, and he adored each and every one of them until he drew his last breath.

Nick is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elizabeth Montgomery Thomas, his son, Nicholas B. Thomas, Jr. (Jena), daughter Susan Burke (Stanford), daughter Vicki Pohl (Chris), and daughter Melinda Thomas; grandchildren Kristine Gorel (fiancé Ron Tayala and his children Austin, Taylor and Grace), Andrew Sarsfield (Mariellen), Christopher Pohl, and Emily Thomas; and great-grandchildren Dylan Gorel, Zoe Gorel, James Sarsfield, and Ella Sarsfield. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Emilia Sullivan (Edward).

A memorial service will be scheduled in the coming months and his ashes will be scattered into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine. Hundreds of friends have stated that Nick Thomas was the kindest and gentlest man they have ever known. The entire family thanks you for your love and care.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made, in his honor, to the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts.