My Black History
My God-Mother ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️
Obituary
Elizabeth R Thomas BSN, MN, ARNP
April 15, 1934 – February 9, 2011
Born in Mobile Alabama, to Earl and Alberta Moore she was the fifth of six children. At age eleven Elizabeth knew she wanted to be a nurse, after not being allowed to visit her mother who was dying because she was too young. Elizabeth vowed that she would never be that cold or cruel to any child or family.
Pursing her goal she attended Good Samaritan School of Nursing in Alabama where she received her Practical Nurses License. After moving to Seattle with her two children, she continued her education at Shoreline Community College, where she received her Associate of Arts Degree. In 1973 she received an Associate Baccalaureate Degree from Seattle University. In 1975 she was the first African American to complete the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Washington School of Nursing. She then became the first to work as an ARNP in Seattle at Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic. She retired in 1998 giving them twenty-five years of service.
Elizabeth had been actively involved in the community and was a strong advocate for children and families for over twenty-eight years. Through her work with other organizations she has had a strong impact on shaping the health and social history in Washington State. For example, The Baby Buckle Seat Program, Implantation of the Washington State Immunization Law for all children, she also started a community-parenting program, which provides positive parenting skill to families who are involved in the court system.
She was involved and very instrumental with the following organizations: Washington State Nurses Association, King County Nurses Association, Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, Infant Mortality Coalition, Black Child Development, Knights of Saint Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary Court 218 and St Martin DePorres just to name a few.
Through her endeavors she touched many lives and received numerous awards for her love and commitment to children and families. In 2000 she was placed in the Washington State Nurse Association Hall of Fame; she received the Alvirita Little Award in 2001 from Therapeutic Health Service for her lifetime of selfless dedication, tireless commitment, leadership and advocacy on the behalf of children, in 2002 Liz received the Jefferson Award from Immaculate Conception for Honor Dedication and Sacrifices, in 2005 she was awarded the Heroes Award for Healthy Living from the Washington Health Foundation, and many more though out the years of her life for meritorious selfless service to others.
My God-Mother was extremely instrumental in who I am today. She always told me how proud of me she was. She loved my coffee house, Flava which her daughter Donna, my sister helped me open.
I was so blessed to be raised with this woman in my life.
She was there for me always…even when I didn’t see her…she sat with me for hours as a child, young person and adult…she came to my coffee house and told me how proud she was of me for living my dreams…and in the last hours of her life…she told me that she loved me…It is strange that while she was alive, I never realized her greatness to the community and what a difference she made for so many…All I knew is that she was great in my eyes and in my heart…I remember a very heartfelt conversation with her in the hospital about 3 months before her passing, when she said she really didn’t know what a difference she made until the word got out that she was sick and young people came out of no where to reach out to her to let her know…Man, I would give anything today to sit with her…
My family has made history! The lobby of Odessa Brown will be named in her honor.
With Love Always,
Susan “Lady Flava” Koshi
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