“Carol B. Thomas Second Counselor, Young Women General Presidency,” Ensign, May 1997, 109
Carol B. Thomas
Second Counselor, Young Women General Presidency
“I have a passion for the gospel,” says Carol B. Thomas, new second counselor in the Young Women general presidency. “As a young woman, I always wanted to serve in the Church.”
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 6 May 1942, Carol is the oldest of five children born to Karl and Gladys Jacob Burdett. One summer she met medical student Ray Thomas when they both worked at the Grand Canyon. That fall they both attended the University of Utah and were married two years later on 23 March 1962 in the Salt Lake Temple.
Having lived most of her life in Salt Lake City, Sister Thomas appreciated the opportunity to live in California, Washington, and Kansas during the six years her husband completed his medical internship and residency. In 1969 they moved back to Salt Lake City.
Now the mother of 7 children and grandmother to 19, Sister Thomas has had many opportunities to serve in the Church. For nearly 25 years her service has been in various ward Relief Society presidencies and on stake Relief Society boards in the Salt Lake Holladay South Stake. In 1987, she had an opportunity to serve in Young Women—first as an adviser, then six months later as stake Young Women president.
“My years of service in Relief Society, followed by my service in Young Women, have helped me understand the need for a smooth transition from Young Women to Relief Society,” she says.
In 1990 she was called to serve on the Relief Society general board, with her primary responsibility being the worldwide celebration of the Relief Society sesquicentennial celebration. She kept in touch with young women’s thinking during her years on the board because she had daughters attending Young Women, and daughters and a daughter-in-law serving as Young Women advisers in Chicago, New Jersey, and Colorado. Also, her husband was serving as bishop of a young single adult ward.
Now, as she moves from the Relief Society general board to the presidency of the Young Women, the naturally energetic Sister Thomas has been called to do what she has always loved doing: serving in the Church.