Jewel Marie was the oldest of 12 children born to Oscar G. Thomas and Delma L. Moore Church.

Her grandparents, John M. Church and Susan Caroline Moore Church, in addition to her parents and several siblings, are all buried in Coffee Cemetery.

THE DAILY REGISTER (Harrisburg, Illinois), Monday, March 19, 1923:

Saline County lost one of its highest principled young school teachers Saturday, with the death of MISS JEWELL MARIE THOMAS, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar G. Thomas of Big Ridge, who died about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Her death followed a nervous breakdown, which had evidently been imminent but unsuspected by friends for some time.

Miss Thomas was in the midst of her first years work as a teacher when she was stricken with the fatal illness. She was 22 years old and was one of a large family of girls. Her father is a man of moderate financial circumstances and she early in life became ambitious to educate herself and to teach school.

With the career of teacher in view she prepared herself by adhering strictly to the most noble ideals and her honesty and thrift as well as a very pleasant disposition were outstanding traits of character. By entering one of the Farm Bureau calf clubs she contrived to earn the money to pay for a teachers course at the state normal school in Carbondale.

Last fall she was appointed to teach at Pankeyville school. This is one of the large rural schools of the county and the appointment carried responsibility, but Miss Thomas was ambitious and certainly presided efficiently. She remained at work until she was violently ill and last Monday was taken to her home. She grew worse from that time until she died.

While on her death bed Miss Thomas was notified that a reward waited her claim at the Register office because of an act of honesty and kindness shown by her to Roman Cresiak, in returning a purse of money which was lost by him. True to her nature until the last she told her folk to notify The Register that she wanted no reward for her honesty and asked that the reward be returned to the man who lost the purse.

Her parents and brother and sisters are grief stricken over the death of Jewell Thomas and every school teacher of the county regretted to hear of the death of their young co-worker. The following young women, some of them teachers, will serve as flower girls at the funeral: Misses Ruth Gullet, Sybil Meachem, Theresa Johnson, Bernice Kent, Laverne and Lena Rose Ingram, and Hazel and Lucile Dixon.

Funeral services will be held at 11 o'clock Tuesday morning at Big Ridge church. Rev. A. J. Yates will officiate and the body will be taken to Sunset Hill cemetery for burial.

The pall bearers are: Pete Bertino, Paul Bramlet, Ceryl Gates, Harley Stricklin, James Smith and Roy Pelhank.

THE DAILY REGISTER (Harrisburg, Illinois), Tuesday, March 20, 1923:

The little church at Big Ridge was filled to overflowing today by crowds of friends of Miss JEWELL MARIE THOMAS, a young school teacher who died at her home at Big Ridge Saturday afternoon. Many teachers from the rural schools were in attendance and quite a number of Harrisburg people were present.

The funeral service was conducted by Rev. A. T. Hill, who was assisted by Rev. A. J. Yates. Their eulogy of the young teacher's life was impressive and carried a message of sympathy to the bereaved family. Following the service at the church the body was taken to Coffee cemetery for burial.