Yesterday we said goodbye to Chris Thomas, my friend for over forty years.

He was a man of many parts – scholar, singer, actor, bon vivant, traveler, teacher and mentor, as well as a great friend to many and a devoted family member.

Christopher Kenneth John Thomas was born in Hobart on 5 July 1948 to Ken and Elaine Thomas, a public servant and a teacher, who embodied their belief in education and the good of the community. A couple of years later Chris was joined by his sister Helen, and the family moved from the city to a new home in Lindisfarne.

Childhood

Ken’s work included looking after the state’s outdoor recreation facilities, youth hostels and camp grounds, and during school holidays the whole family would join him on trips around the state as he undertook maintenance work.

Helen grew to enjoy sport and outdoor activities while Chris took more after his mother in being bookish. He took up stamp collecting and scrap booking, gathering tickets, programs and certificates, spending hours sitting at the desk in his room. Chris took photos of the family which he developed  under the house. This urge to be the keeper of the family history stayed with him his entire life; in later years he began creating annual family photo calendars, a tradition that is being carried on by his nieces and nephews, Ben, Anne, Viv and Tom.

Chris’ love of music and singing was inspired by his father who had a fine voice, and by the age of about 12 Chris was conducting the local church choir.

The Thomases were able to accommodate others who needed the love of a family. At different times cousins Peter, David, Judith and Mukta lived with them. Malaysian student Pik Lin was sent to school in Hobart, and having no family nearby was ‘adopted’ into the Thomas family, becoming like a sister to Helen and Chris.

The Thomases loved joining with their extended family on long camping holidays each summer. Chris often spoke about six-week breaks at Stewart’s Bay with cousins, aunts and uncles. Later, Ken and Elaine bought a block of land at Coles Bay, building a house that would become the spiritual home of the family.

School and Uni

Hard-working and studious, Chris did well at school, and at Friends began to develop his love of performing. He appeared in several school productions on stage at the Theatre Royal during the early 60s including The Little Sweep, Life with Father and Little Women. He sang in choirs and was often asked to perform solo, especially at speech nights. Chris won praise and awards as a boy soprano in Eisteddfods, and somehow managed to find time to play in the school hockey team.

For one of his academic ability, the University of Tasmania was the logical next step, for which he gained a commonwealth scholarship. While studying English, History and Classics, he  performed with the Old Nick Company and Hobart Rep, and joined the Tas Uni Choral Society. He would continue his involvement in what became TUMS (the Tas Uni Music Society) through the 70s, participating in annual Intervarsity choral festivals around the country and helping to organise several in Tasmania.

Growing up gay

Somewhere in this period, Chris began to be aware of his sexual identity and sensed that he was different from those around him. But this was the conservative Menzies era, and he felt unable to come out openly to his family. It was an isolating and lonely time to be a young gay person. Eventually Chris opened up to Helen, leading to a very close, constant and confident relationship with his family as a brother, uncle and great-uncle.

Nevertheless, Chris, being a naturally sociable person, found a community where he could be himself. He told me stories about what I’d call his ‘full and active social life’ during the 1970s and 80s. Chris also volunteered at Lambda, a gay social justice support group, which formed in Hobart during the mid-70s.

Work life

After graduating Uni with adegree in arts and an honours degree in ancient civs (he later completed a Masters in Humanities), Chris began teaching at Elizabeth College in the early 70s, while appearing in shows like The Music Man and The Beggar’s Opera.

After saving some cash, Chris took off on a Gap year in 1974. He flew to London before joining a group of other young people to tackle Europe in a Kombi van. The van took them from Spain to the Black Sea and from the Arctic Circle to the shores of the Mediterranean. The adventure was recorded in a big box of coloured slides.

Back in Hobart, Chris joined the staff at the new Rosny College in 1975, teaching English and Ancient Civs, & from 1979, Speech & Drama. And he continued to perform, in Gilbert and Sullivan shows like Ruddigore, Yeoman of the Guard and Pirates of Penzance , in which he played the Pirate King.

I was a student at Rosny in 1982; in preparing for today I realised that during that year alone, Chris appeared in five productions, all major roles, all while carrying a full teaching load that included directing the drama class production of Medeasomewhere in the middle of the year. Chris maintained this pace for years.

Around this time Chris also directed shows on stages beyond the Rosny auditorium. I recall seeing his Henry IV Part One, outdoors at the University and Oedipus the King at the Peacock Theatre.

He performed in radio plays and hosted a schools program called Singing and Listening for ABC Radio, appeared in theatre restaurant shows at The Rampant Bear, and freelanced in commercials and corporate videos.

He served on committees, including the Drama teachers association, panels distributing scarce public funds for the arts, and as the Tasmanian representative for Actors Equity. Later he was a board member of various arts organisations, including Salamanca Theatre Company, Mainstage and the Friends of T-M-A-G-.

Back to the family home

Chris’ parents retired permanently to Coles Bay somewhere in the mid-80s and Chris, perhaps seeking calm from his busy work life, moved back to the family home. A fine cook and generous host, Chris held some memorable dinner parties at Gordons Hill Road, like his elaborate Christmas Dinners. Chris loved Christmas and would spend days decorating, cooking and preparing an incredible feast for a big group of friends. A further feast was prepared for the family on Christmas Eve, and as grand-nieces and nephews came along, Chris took great joy and care finding the perfect gift for each family member.

Teaching legacy

Chris was head of Rosny’s performing arts department from 1984 until his retirement in 2005, and was an examiner for the Tasmanian Qualifications Board well beyond that time. Chris inspired several generations of students, some of whom have gone on to stellar international careers in film, television and on the stage.

It’s been suggested that Chris could have had a major career as a performer in his own right, if he had moved away from Tasmania. Thousands of students (including myself) owe Chris a debt of gratitude that he instead chose education, a decision from which we have benefited.

Les Mis

Chris’ performance as Inspector Javert in the Hobart production of Les Miserables at the Theatre Royal in 1995 is perhaps the role for which most people remember Chris. The following year he gave another memorable turn in The Pirates of Penzance, this time asthe Major General.

Travels

Chris continued traveling throughout his life, returning to the UK and Europe in 1978 and 1983. In 2008 he visited London and the USA with dear friend and colleague, the late Susan Williams, and in later life he joined other friends on cruises, including to the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and through the Pacific islands.

But perhaps his greatest travel passion was Egypt, which he visited four times on tours conducted by Hobart’s Maat Productions. He was joined on these tours in 2006 by nephew Tom, and by me in 2009.

Health

Having enjoyed pretty good health most of his life, Chris began to have some issues in the early 2010s – prostate cancer required surgery, arthritis caused mobility issues resulting in hip replacements, and a diagnosis of Parkinsons disease began to slow him down.

Despite this he continued to perform – Hamlet in 2009, Trial by Jury in 2012, and The Phantom of the Opera in 2013.

Chris stayed in the family home in Lindisfarne as his Parkinson’s Disease progressed, supported by family and friends and a few professional support services. After a final visit to the beloved family retreat at Coles Bay in 2020, Chris felt unable to drive long distances, and even offers to chauffeur him as a passenger were rebuffed.

Move to Queen Victoria Home

Those closest to him began to notice symptoms that were beyond the effects of the Parkinsons. He struggled to do things that he’d been successfully managing for years, like using his computer, and he started having conversations with people in the room who obviously (to others, at least) were not there. Eventually it became clear that Chris was no longer able to live by himself, so his family made arrangements for a move to the Queen Victoria Home. A diagnosis of dementia followed a short time later.

Leaving the home he’d known for most of his life was a wrench for Chris, but he understood the necessity and accepted the move with characteristic dignity. He lived there for four years, gradually succumbing to the impacts of dementia and withdrawing into an active inner world that remained connected with his past.

I visited one day to find him teaching an invisible (to me) class; Helen had a similar experience, visiting while Chris was giving a singing lesson. He also told us about his busy schedule of meetings.

It seems appropriate that at the last, Chris was still demonstrating his commitment to teaching, and living in a world where his skill and advice were in constant demand.

Chris suffered a stroke early last month and died on the morning of October 11.

We all miss him.