Thomas was volleyball trailblazer

Unassuming pioneer, humble athlete, generous at all levels of volleyball.

It only begins to describe the life of Verneda Thomas, a member of the first U.S. women’s Olympic volleyball team and a longtime volleyball official in Hawaii. The graceful and gracious Chicago native died March 30 in Kaiser Medical Center following post-surgical complications to replace a heart stent. She was 79.

Thomas was a pioneer in the sport, one of two African-Americans competing in the USVBA Nationals five decades ago, and the only African-American on the roster for the 1964 Games in Tokyo, the first time volleyball was contested.

“To describe Verneda as a ‘trailblazer’ hardly does her justice, but she was surely that,” Doug Beal, CEO of USA Volleyball, said in a statement. “She excelled in sports, but she was a warm, upbeat, outgoing and engaging person and personality. She loved the sport and led the way on the court and off, participating for her long career as a world class player and then top official and scorer.

“We were fortunate to be able to spend time with her recently at the 1964 Olympian reunion in 2014 and a follow-up event with teammates and peers from her era. She spanned and cut a wide swath inside USVBA. We have lost a very special member of our family and a joy of a presence to be around.”

“She was a kick,” said Hawaii Prep girls volleyball coach Sharon Peterson, also a member of the 1964 Olympic team. “She was fun-loving, a free spirit, rode a motorcyle, teaching us the latest dances.

“I have this picture of us after we played Japan and she was holding one of the Japanese players in her arms. She spent so much of her life in volleyball. It was always great to see her.”

The Chicago native also was an elite international high jumper in the 1950s, competing for the U.S. at the 1956 Pan American Games and winning the AAU national title in 1957. She was coached by future Hawaii women’s athletic director, the late Dr. Donnis Thompson.

Thomas began playing volleyball in 1960 for the Chicago Rebels under legendary coach Bertha Lucas. After the Olympics, she continued to play with the Rebels then moved to Hawaii, joining the Lokahi Hawaiians in the mid-1970s. She later transitioned to officiating, becoming a USA National referee in 1982, and was an FIVB qualified scorekeeper before retiring at the end of the 2012-13 season.

“Really don’t know how to put into words what Verneda has meant to our sport, our cadre of officials, but mostly as a good friend over the last 30 years,” said Wayne Lee, Aloha Region volleyball officials chair. “Many of the younger folks may not know her accomplishments and contributions, or that she was even an Olympian.

“Granted she was from Chicago but she lovingly called Hawaii home.”

In a 2014 interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 team, Thomas spoke of her experiences at the Olympic tryouts.

“The California girls knew each other, and then there was me, from Chicago,” said Thomas, a chemist and former research associate at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu. “I was a little older (28) and we had nothing in common. And in the 1960s, it was kind of devastating as far as the racial discrimination thing. At the nationals, I couldn’t stay in the same hotel as my team. I had competed internationally in track and never had that same segregation in other countries that I encountered in the U.S.”

Thomas is survived by sister Mary E. Love of Illinois and several nieces and nephews.

Services are Friday at Nuuanu Memorial Park &Mortuary, 2233 Nuuanu Ave. Visitation is at 5 p.m. followed by a celebration of life at 6 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to help cover expenses. Cards and donations can be sent to niece Karen Campbell, 197 Tecumseh Drive, Bolingbrook, Ill. 60490

A private family service will be held on Sunday in Illinois.