Gracy Thomas, Queens resident who lived an American success story after emigrating from India, dies at 82
Gracy Thomas at the 60th birthday celebration of her husband, Thomas Scaria, in 2001. Credit: Thomas family
Her life was the quintessential immigrant success story.
Though already age 40 when she emigrated from Chennai, formerly Madras, Tamil Nadu, India, to New York with her husband and three young daughters in 1983, Gracy Thomas earned less than $4 an hour at her first job as a bank employee in America.
But she banked on her faith and through her persistence she and her husband built a life here, with Thomas overcoming health scares, even surviving a close call with fate the morning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center — saving enough to buy a first home in Bellerose, Queens, being able to send her daughters to college and becoming a U.S. citizen.
Born in Mylapra, Kerala, India, on Sept. 5, 1942, Thomas was the third of six children. Her father, K.I. Mathen, was a businessman and farmer; her mother, Sosama Mathen, ran the home. Known as Kunjumol — her nickname or "house name," translating to "Little Daughter" — in high school Thomas learned shorthand and to be a typist, then took work as a civilian employee of the Indian Air Force in Mumbai, then called Bombay.
As was common for the time, Thomas entered a marriage arranged by her parents. She first met her husband, Thomas Scaria, on her wedding day, at the altar. And, as tradition, she took his first name as her surname.
Married on June 6, 1968, the two would remain together until her death at the age of 82 on March 13. After selling their home in Bellerose, they bought a house just over the border in the Queens section of Floral Park. Their daughters recalled how their father, now 83, always made it clear his wife was "his right hand."
"It was unconditional love," daughter Millet Alexander, of Floral Park, said. "My mom probably fell in love when she saw him at the altar. Her love was the grace from God — and that’s what her name is, Gracy."
As daughter Linda Thomas, of New Hyde Park, said: "First and foremost, she always credited all their success, all the goodness, to faith ... She definitely had a lot of grit. No matter the circumstance, whether finances were not so good, no matter when her health was not so good, we never saw a droopy face. She always showed us a happy face. Together, they were able to raise us, to raise us up."
Having overcome lung-related issues in her youth, coming to America Thomas and her family first lived with her eldest sister in Floral Park; a home which, over time, housed just over 20 family members. While her husband worked two, sometimes three jobs, Thomas went to work for the State Bank of India in Manhattan and later for several other banks, including one near the World Trade Center.
Daughter Leema Thomas, a deputy assistant managing editor at Newsday, said her mother should have been underground in the subway station at Ground Zero when the hijacked passenger planes struck the Twin Towers on 9/11.
"For some reason," she said, "she pressed her clothes the night before, then left early, and was already out of the subway at work when the planes hit."
Her office barely two blocks from the World Trade Center, the family didn’t know what happened to Gracy Thomas until she returned home that night — covered, as her daughters explained, "in layers of soot and ash."
As Gracy Thomas later wrote in a journal: "People were crying, jumping down from the top floor, all the streets were covered with fire, burned paper, cement, and heavy smoke where nobody can see each other."
The memory remained with her for life.
Diagnosed with end-stage renal failure five years ago, Thomas refused dialysis, changed her diet and overcame many bouts of illness, including COVID-19, when she was given days or weeks to live, staging countless miraculous comebacks — each time, crediting it to her unwavering faith.
She was a longtime member of the Shalem Pentecostal Tabernacle in Elmont.
Thomas spoke Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English. She cooked complex traditional Indian dishes without recipes and without measurements.
Her most cherished possession was a fig tree she and her husband planted in the backyard.
"The four cornerstones of her life," Leema Thomas said, "were faith, family, friends — and food."
Gracy Thomas was buried at Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington following a "homegoing service" on Monday.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, her daughters and their spouses — Leema, husband Bashu Joseph and their children, Stefanie, Hannah and Caleb, all of Dix Hills; Linda and Rajan Thomas, of New Hyde Park, and children Lydia (husband Shan John), of Great Neck, Lauren and Lance, of New Hyde Park; and Millet and Peter Alexander, of Floral Park, and their children, Daniel, Joel and Kayla, of Dallas; and siblings Rachel Kunchandy, of Trivandrum, Kerala, India, George Mathen and wife Lysamma, Bobby Mathen and wife Grace, and Lissy Thomas and husband John, all of Atlanta.
She was predeceased by her sister Kunjamma Williams and her husband, V.V. Williams, and her brother-in-law K.M. Kunchandy, the late husband of her sister Rachel Kunchandy, of Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Her life was the quintessential immigrant success story.
Though already age 40 when she emigrated from Chennai, formerly Madras, Tamil Nadu, India, to New York with her husband and three young daughters in 1983, Gracy Thomas earned less than $4 an hour at her first job as a bank employee in America.
But she banked on her faith and through her persistence she and her husband built a life here, with Thomas overcoming health scares, even surviving a close call with fate the morning of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center — saving enough to buy a first home in Bellerose, Queens, being able to send her daughters to college and becoming a U.S. citizen.
Born in Mylapra, Kerala, India, on Sept. 5, 1942, Thomas was the third of six children. Her father, K.I. Mathen, was a businessman and farmer; her mother, Sosama Mathen, ran the home. Known as Kunjumol — her nickname or "house name," translating to "Little Daughter" — in high school Thomas learned shorthand and to be a typist, then took work as a civilian employee of the Indian Air Force in Mumbai, then called Bombay.
As was common for the time, Thomas entered a marriage arranged by her parents. She first met her husband, Thomas Scaria, on her wedding day, at the altar. And, as tradition, she took his first name as her surname.
Married on June 6, 1968, the two would remain together until her death at the age of 82 on March 13. After selling their home in Bellerose, they bought a house just over the border in the Queens section of Floral Park. Their daughters recalled how their father, now 83, always made it clear his wife was "his right hand."
Faith yields success
"It was unconditional love," daughter Millet Alexander, of Floral Park, said. "My mom probably fell in love when she saw him at the altar. Her love was the grace from God — and that’s what her name is, Gracy."
As daughter Linda Thomas, of New Hyde Park, said: "First and foremost, she always credited all their success, all the goodness, to faith ... She definitely had a lot of grit. No matter the circumstance, whether finances were not so good, no matter when her health was not so good, we never saw a droopy face. She always showed us a happy face. Together, they were able to raise us, to raise us up."
Having overcome lung-related issues in her youth, coming to America Thomas and her family first lived with her eldest sister in Floral Park; a home which, over time, housed just over 20 family members. While her husband worked two, sometimes three jobs, Thomas went to work for the State Bank of India in Manhattan and later for several other banks, including one near the World Trade Center.
Daughter Leema Thomas, a deputy assistant managing editor at Newsday, said her mother should have been underground in the subway station at Ground Zero when the hijacked passenger planes struck the Twin Towers on 9/11.
"For some reason," she said, "she pressed her clothes the night before, then left early, and was already out of the subway at work when the planes hit."
Her office barely two blocks from the World Trade Center, the family didn’t know what happened to Gracy Thomas until she returned home that night — covered, as her daughters explained, "in layers of soot and ash."
As Gracy Thomas later wrote in a journal: "People were crying, jumping down from the top floor, all the streets were covered with fire, burned paper, cement, and heavy smoke where nobody can see each other."
The memory remained with her for life.
Diagnosed with end-stage renal failure five years ago, Thomas refused dialysis, changed her diet and overcame many bouts of illness, including COVID-19, when she was given days or weeks to live, staging countless miraculous comebacks — each time, crediting it to her unwavering faith.
She was a longtime member of the Shalem Pentecostal Tabernacle in Elmont.
Thomas spoke Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and English. She cooked complex traditional Indian dishes without recipes and without measurements.
Her most cherished possession was a fig tree she and her husband planted in the backyard.
"The four cornerstones of her life," Leema Thomas said, "were faith, family, friends — and food."
Gracy Thomas was buried at Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington following a "homegoing service" on Monday.
She is survived by her husband of 56 years, her daughters and their spouses — Leema, husband Bashu Joseph and their children, Stefanie, Hannah and Caleb, all of Dix Hills; Linda and Rajan Thomas, of New Hyde Park, and children Lydia (husband Shan John), of Great Neck, Lauren and Lance, of New Hyde Park; and Millet and Peter Alexander, of Floral Park, and their children, Daniel, Joel and Kayla, of Dallas; and siblings Rachel Kunchandy, of Trivandrum, Kerala, India, George Mathen and wife Lysamma, Bobby Mathen and wife Grace, and Lissy Thomas and husband John, all of Atlanta.
She was predeceased by her sister Kunjamma Williams and her husband, V.V. Williams, and her brother-in-law K.M. Kunchandy, the late husband of her sister Rachel Kunchandy, of Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
NewsdayTV celebrates Women's History Month From a civil rights pioneer to history being made at the SCPD, NewsdayTV is celebrating Women's History Month with a look at changemakers and trailblazers with ties to LI.
Top Stories
NewsdayTV celebrates Women's History Month From a civil rights pioneer to history being made at the SCPD, NewsdayTV is celebrating Women's History Month with a look at changemakers and trailblazers with ties to LI.
