Arnold Grant Thomas

He was born on Staten Island, on October 5, 1933, to Albert and Agnes (Arnold) Thomas.

He received a BA in mathematics from Wagner College in 1955 and spent his early career working for several corporations (Western Electric, Bell Labs, Thompson Ramo Wooldridge and UNIVAC among others) that had large government defense contracts. It was UNIVAC that brought him to San Diego, in 1963, where he worked with the Navy on Missile Defense. He ended his career with Dyna-Metrics, a company that designed, constructed and installed news/weather sets for local TV stations and convention spaces for corporate meetings.

He was a lifelong bachelor, a recreational gambler, an avid sports fan (especially of baseball and the Padres - he constructed the first “star” that hung out of the broadcast booth after a memorable play), a friend to bartenders and bar patrons and a character whose stories and actions endeared him to his many friends.

He is survived and will be dearly missed by his sister Arlene Thomas Comstock, his brother-in-law John Comstock and his nieces Amy Kingsley and Julie Comstock. In addition to his parents he was predeceased by another sister, Ann Thomas Ziebarth.

Think of him when you watch the Padres or drink a Bud.