Williams Thomas

WILLIAM THOMAS

Cedar Rapids

William L. Thomas, 68, died after a long, and for the most part peaceful, coexistence with colon cancer. At last, cancer did what it does, and Bill died Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014.

Bill was born July 21, 1945, in Pierre, S.D., the son of Herb and Lela (Shanks) Thomas. His parents divorced in 1947. Bill graduated from Theodore F. Riggs High School in 1963. He then graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1967, and the University of Iowa College of Law in 1973.

Bill met Julianne Thomas in seventh grade and they became best friends during high school. They participated in plays and were often debate partners. They went their separate ways during college, but remained in contact. Bill finally had the good sense to fall in love with his best friend and they were married on June 12, 1971, in Pierre, S.D., six days after Julie graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine and nine days before she began her pediatric residency at the University of Iowa. At the completion of her residency in 1974, she and Bill moved to Cedar Rapids, where they have lived and worked since.

Bill began private law practice as an associate of Lew Eells and then became an assistant Linn County Attorney in the felony division, under the genial and thoughtful guidance of county attorney, Gene Kopecky. In 1979, he resumed private practice with the firm of Crawford, Sullivan, Read and Roermerman. In 1981, he was appointed judge in the sixth judicial district, where he served until the end of 2006, when he retired and took senior status. He served as a senior district court judge until Jan. 16, 2014, when he fully retired.

Early in his tenure as a judge, Bill concluded that many lawsuits, especially family cases, did not involve serious disputes about the law, but involved major personal conflict between the parties. In attempting to find a better way to resolve these disputes, he took both civil and family mediation training at the National Judicial College. He was then instrumental in the development of the Sixth Judicial District Family Mediation program, which began in 1996.

He served on the board of directors of the Iowa Peace Institute in Grinnell and the national board of the Academy of Family Mediators, which merged with other dispute resolution organizations and became the Association for Conflict Resolution. He was then on the National Family Council for the ACR and the board of directors of the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation. He served as chair of the Sixth Judicial District's Mediation Advisory Committee from its inception until late 2013.

In 2002, he discovered kayaking and became seriously hooked. He did brief training programs in San Diego and Washington, D.C., and then a week-long program at the Kayak Academy in Seattle in 2005, during which he celebrated his 60th birthday with the other participants and the appropriate amount of champagne, while camped on an island in Puget Sound. He was fortunate to paddle also in Alaska, Lake Michigan, Lake George in upstate New York and the Florida Everglades, where he had lunch with alligators. He did three Great River Rumbles in 2006-2008, each a week-long trip on a tributary of the Mississippi and the great river itself. He paddled a variety of rivers and lakes in Iowa and surrounding states. The best trip, however, was a 10 day catamaran and kayak trip in the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador in 2007.

He was predeceased by his parents; his elder brother, John; three aunts; and two glorious golden retrievers.

He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Dr. Julianne Thomas.

Bill will especially be remembered for his humor, wisdom and love.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 361 17th St. SE, Cedar Rapids, with Pastor Bob David officiating. Burial will be private. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mediation Services of Eastern Iowa, Indian Creek Nature Center Paddle Day or Kids First Law Center.

Online condolences may be left at www.cedar

memorial.com.