Often in death, those who remain are left to wonder what sort of impact their loved ones impressed upon their community.
The family of Ralph K. Thomas needn’t worry. His legacy is forever etched.
Friday afternoon at the Trigg County Recreation Complex, at least three generations gathered for the unveiling of a plaque commissioned by the Fiscal Court — one naming the home of the Lady Wildcats softball team in his honor.
It reads: “In honor of the many youth baseball teams he coached, and the countless lives he impacted in a positive way.”
A 1958 graduate of Trigg County High School and a Lamasco, Lyon County native, he would spend his summers coaching on the Complex’s diamonds.
This, of course, was when he wasn’t working at Hoover Ball and Bearing Company — later Johnson Controls — or, as Magistrate Mike Wright put it, active with Relay For Life.
Like many growing up in and around Cadiz, Magistrate Jeff Broadbent got the privilege not to play for Thomas, but against him.
Judge-Executive Stan Humphries, himself a strapping young whippersnapper and ballplayer back in the day, said the Thomas honor would have come sooner — but a rehabilitation to the press box was first needed before adorning this fixture.
For two of his daughters, Tina and Toni, Friday was a full-circle, round-the-bases moment — and one of the few moments where crying is acceptable in baseball. Their late father, at times, was literally moving heaven and earth to make sure grass was sewn, dirt was raked, and youths were out at the Complex.
His sister, Peggy Tomlin, now lives in Thompsons Station, Tennessee. She made the trip, tears in her eyes after the honor was revealed.
For those who didn’t know Thomas personally, Tina and others made it clear.
Five days after Christmas 2023, Thomas died. He was 83.
And yet, his memory lives.
