“You know, people don’t really tell you how they feel,” Thomas said. “But they got up at the party with my family there, my in-laws and friends and everybody there, and they got up and they talked about me. It was an awesome feeling. It made me want to cry… to know that I had touched so many people’s lives, and that in 19-degree weather my daughter said, ‘Mama, we put out 80 chairs, and there were 80 people there to fill those chairs.”
The sheriff’s comments felt especially meaningful, Thomas said. And he, looking back over his years with the Second District Drug Task Force, described how Thomas’s footprint spanned well past the county she served.
“When I came to Lowndes County, I came as a drug agent,” Chris West said. “As [time] progressed, agencies fell off because of lack of funding and Lowndes County ended up with the [ADECA] grant. Funds kept dwindling every few years… but Jackie found a way. I don’t know how she did it, but she found a way to keep us operational, not only in Lowndes County but throughout the Second Judicial Circuit.
“It was Jackie Thomas who helped to see that the drug unit was continuously funded. That was a big deal for me. I worked undercover in all three counties, so I saw the need for drug enforcement every day.”
Thomas said she will continue attending county commission meetings, this time in the audience instead of on the panel.
“I will be coming to board meetings,” she said. “And I will be vocal in my thoughts when I see that something being said is misleading or wrong. Now I can be on the agenda, to speak out if needed.”