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1929-2026
Elfe Martin Thomas of Eagle Lake, Texas passed away on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at Arbor Hill Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. She was 97.
Her active life was celebrated on Saturday, May 30, with a burial service at Lakeside Cemetery in Eagle Lake at 10 a.m. and a community service at the United Methodist Church of Eagle Lake at 11 a.m. with a reception afterward for family and friends.
Elfe will be missed by the community that she loved and served in multiple ways for decades. Elfe and her late husband, Raymond R. Thomas, MD, were leaders and active community citizens as they raised their beloved family of four children.
Elfe Martin Thomas was born in Magdeburg, Germany on March 11, 1929. As a small child, she came to Texas with her maternal family, settling first in San Antonio. She moved to join her mother, Gerda Spielhagen Martin, and her stepfather Kurt Martin in Mason, Texas, where she spent her childhood.
Much of her time was spent at the historic Blockhouse Ranch near Mason along the San Saba River and Calf Creek. On the ranch she learned to ride and to enjoy the outdoor ranch life, which she grew to love, and which her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren have enjoyed through the years, as a family gathering place. Her father Kurt took many cattle drives from the ranch up to the Indian Reservations at the Oklahoma border where he sold his cattle. Kurt’s grandmother was the well-known Anna Martin, who introduced barbedwire to west Texas, was a rancher and cattlewoman, and was prominent as the first woman to become a bank founder/ president/owner in Texas and the U.S. The bank she founded in Mason is still in operation.
Elfe excelled in school. She was an active student at Mason High School and excelled in sports and student leadership and activities. She was her class vice-president and was voted the student most likely to succeed. After high school and honors, Elfe went to the Hockaday School in Dallas for her first year in college. With a strong interest in the sciences, Elfe transferred to the University of Texas in Austin the next year and enrolled in science and pre-med courses. At the university, she excelled in her academic work and was inducted into both science and pre-medical honorary societies.
With her interest in science, Elfe enrolled in Microbiology, and upon graduation from the university, she headed for another UT campus, this time in Galveston at the UT medical school. Here she would work in the Microbiology department to earn her tuition for medical school. As a talented microbiologist, she decided to continue her work, and marry Raymond R. Thomas, Eagle Lake’s native son, who was finishing his medical degree in Galveston. After Raymond’s graduation, the couple moved to Ft. Worth for his medical residency, and Elfe continued her profession in microbiology. They later moved to Eagle Lake where Dr. Thomas had dreamed of becoming a country doctor.
They began their family of four children: Russell Thomas, OD; Kurt Thomas; Griff Thomas, MD; and Julia Thomas Pardue. Elfe’s work then became the raising of her children and participation in the community. Her beautiful family has grown to include her talented grandchildren and now great-grandchi ldren. “Oma,” (the term for grandmother in German,) is the name she was called by her family. In her 97 years, Elfe has made an impact on both her expanding, talented family, but also upon the community of Eagle Lake.
She and Dr. Raymond, and now her children, have been known for their Study Club and other Auction Dinners at her home, which they have contributed over the years in various ways to benefit the community. They housed multiple medical students in their home during medical internships and rural rotations.
Active in the Study Club, Garden Club, Bridge Clubs, Girl and Boy Scouts, Tennis, Theater, Museum, Methodist Church, Chamber of Commerce, and local and Colorado and Fayette County Medical Auxiliaries to name a few of her involvements. Also, she was involved in the arts and needlework. She has been honored multiple times, including Lady of the Year in 1983, and has truly made a difference in Eagle Lake.
Elfe was preceded in death by husband Dr. R.R. Thomas and stepbrother, Max Martin. Survivors include her children, their spouses, and families, and longtime friend, Larry Morales.
