Merle S. Thomas has been named June’s Elk of the Month at the Long Beach/Bellflower Elks Lodge No. 888. Thomas was born in Yuma, Arizona in February of 1915, and moved to Long Beach when he was 7.
He attended Washington Junior High and then Poly Senior High School, where he received a master of pioneering honor from the local YMCA.
After graduating from high school in 1933, he returned to Yuma, where he worked for his uncle doing farming. In 1941, he returned to California, moving to Sacramento, where he worked for McClellan Army Air Depot on a squadron of “Jimmy Doolittle” B-25s.
In 1942, he moved to Riverside, where he worked on the flight line as well as assisting pilots on various test flights, riding everything from a Piper Cub to the war-tested B-29.
He returned to Yuma and farming in 1947, joining Yuma Elks Lodge No. 476 in 1956. He retired from farming in 1963 and moved back to Long Beach in 1966.
Upon his return here, he transferred his membership to Lodge No. 888 on Aug. 7, 1967. While a member of the local lodge, he has served on the Chimes folding committee and makes donations several times a year to various funds, such as the charity fund and the building fund. He also purchased a new bingo board for the lodge.
