Andrew "Andy" Thomas

Andrew C. Thomas was born October 1, 1949 in Kansas City. He graduated from Capital High School in Boise in 1968, where he was a member of the debate team and the National Honor Society. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1972, where he participated on the Debate Council and the varsity swim team. He went on to the University of Idaho, College of Law, graduating in 1975.

During law school Andy interned at Idaho Legal Aid Services (MS), and then joined the ILAS Caldwell office upon graduation. Andy worked at ILAS for 42 years, devoting his entire professional career to providing free legal services to low income people in housing, family, public benefits and senior law cases.

Andy was a brilliant lawyer and appeared before the 9 ^th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Idaho Supreme

Court. He was a leader in his community and served in many community organizations, including the Idaho Region III Mental Health Advisory Board, the Idaho Housing Coalition, the Intermountain Fair Housing Council, and the Idaho Homeless Coalition. He served as President of the Third District Bar

Association and was held in high esteem by his fellow attorneys in the Third District.

Andy was a mentor and great friend to his colleagues at Idaho Legal Aid, both in Caldwell and throughout ILAS, which has seven offices across the state. In some respects, Idaho Legal Aid was Andy's family, and his colleagues loved him dearly and will miss him immensely.

Andy was an encyclopedia of legal knowledge. His recall of statutes and obscure procedural rules was extraordinary. For his younger colleagues at Idaho Legal Aid, there were few legal puzzles or strategic quandaries for which he did not have a solution.

His compassion for his low income clients was boundless. Every work day for 42 years he sat down with people in difficult situations and helped them through it, patiently explaining options and strategies and advocating for them in court. While Andy tried to keep it secret, his Legal Aid colleagues were aware that he would often give his eviction clients a month's rent to prevent an eviction when there was no legal argument to save them. At one ILAS training, the attorneys were asked to compare their colleagues with an animal best suited to their nature. Andy was a teddy bear.

Andy was a voracious reader and aficionado of popular culture, from movies and music, to sports and politics. He delighted in analyzing a film's cinematic elements and would readily provide a lengthy history of its genre. He read dozens of magazines and newspapers on a weekly basis, and could tell you anything you wanted to know about Bob Dylan or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Andy gave much to this world, and his family and friends will long cherish our memories of this kind and generous man.

Andy is survived by his brother, John Thomas, and his nephew, Miles Thomas. Andy was preceded in death by his mother and father, Margaret and Miles Thomas, his sister, Francis Thomas, and his brother Chris Thomas. For the past year Andy was cared for by his good friend, Kathy Farber.

A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 18, 2017 at the Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel.