Landon Thomas, Sr. served as a Robert College Trustee for four decades.
Landon Thomas, Sr. died at home in Lincolnville, Maine on March 18, 2023. Raised in Augusta, Georgia, he attended Middlesex School and then Harvard. From 1961 until his retirement in 1999 as Vice Chairman, he worked for Fiduciary Trust Company International in New York City.
Landon’s affinity for Turkey, its history, culture and people, began in the early 60s when an interest in European military history led him to Ottoman history. Part of his honeymoon was spent cruising in the Aegean on a humbly appointed gulet. His first work for Robert College was in fundraising, and he served on the Board of Trustees from 1968 to 2008. During those years, he was engaged in all aspects of the school’s development and advancement. He formed enduring friendships with other members of the Robert College community, among them Aptullah Kuran, Ali Neyzi, Ali Mansur, Barbara Zinsser and Oya Başak. Having taught himself Turkish, he read widely and deeply in history and was a significant collector of Ottoman coins and medals. He avidly attended the annual board meeting in Istanbul, often bringing his children and even grandchildren. Once retired, he was happiest strolling through the streets of Istanbul, photographing cats and lesser-known mosques, or sitting on his balcony watching the Bosphorus.
Landon is survived by his sister, Mary Darcy Thomas Burgund, his ex-wife, Gladys Roberts Thomas, his three children, Landon Thomas, Jr. (m. Mary Valaika), Stephanie Bowie Thomas, Frederic Western Thomas (m. Laongdao “Tak” Suppasettawat); and his three grandchildren, Cornelia Anne Thomas, Landon Thomas III, and Campbell Morgan Thomas. He was predeceased by his beloved second wife, Elizabeth Morgan Kinnicutt and his sister, Cornelia Anne Thomas.
Published July 2023
