On July 25 th , 2022, Vincent Vibert Thomas was called home to be with the Lord. Vincent was born on the 9 th of April 1958 at Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. He was the first-born child of Vincent Thomas, Sr. and Ivy Maud Brown (Pet).
Vincent was otherwise known as Pops, Becking Bar and Dread. He attended Majesty Garden Basic school and Dupont Primary School in Kingston, Jamaica. While at Dupont Primary, Vincent developed the love for “football” (i.e., soccer in the US) that would be the beginning of his long love for the sport. Vincent would later attend Haile Selassie High School in Kingston, to further his academic journey. He eventually forego school to work with his father on his farm where they raise goats and plant produce to make ends meet. When Vincent’s dad passed away, he continued the tradition of keeping up the farm and the animal rearing. Vincent would father ten (10) kids who would become the reason for him to work multiple jobs in Jamaica as he never believed his children should go to bed hungry. With Annette Adamson, he fathered
three daughters - Lexine Thomas (Princess), Tracey- Ann Thomas (Sherine) and Tamara Thomas. With Adella Thompson, he fathered Thameka Thomas (Sharnette). With Sonia Gayner, he fathered his second son, Richardo Thomas (Sammo). With Colleen Cookhorne (Carol) he fathered Christopher Thomas, Trudian Thomas (Trudy), Yanique Thomas, Horatio Thomas (Berby) and Vincent Thomas, III (Berby). Vincent held various jobs throughout his 40 years in Jamaica starting from a young adult to make ends meet. This included his involvement in Politics, where he would take on a large role of “Runner” for the People’s National Party (PNP), one of the two leading parties in the country. He was also a fisherman at the famous Seaside in Greenwich Town, worked for many years as a Garbage Collector Driver for the City of Kingston and finally before he migrated, he served as a Watchman for the Greenwich Primary School in Kingston.
In October 1999, Vincent and 13-year-old Trudy migrated to the US to join his mother where they
settled in Boynton Beach, FL. Starting over in a new country at 40 years old came with many challenges for Vincent. However, he eventually found his bearings and assimilated into his new life with the help of meeting local Jamaican immigrant and playing soccer and cricket on the weekends.
Similar to Jamaica, Vincent held various jobs in the first two years of living in the US. However, in 2001 he would start working with the City of Riviera Beach Parks & Recreation Department. This would turn out to be a great match as he would spend the next 20 years in this role until his retirement in 2021.
Vincent loved music, especially gospel and reggae music. To him, if it was not loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, then it wasn’t playing. This led to him collecting quite a few gigantic speaker boxes and music playing system. He loved to cook, especially on a coal stove. He was a life-long fan of the Arnett Gardens Football Club in Jamaica and would spend weekends going to matches. He loves his motorcycles and would regularly be seen riding in the community. Later in the US he continued his love for fishing and would most weekends out on the water with his fishing poles. This was his way to relax during the weekends or when he was not working.
Including his children listed above, Vincent is survived by his mother, Ivy Maud Brown; brother, Horace
Smith (Bobby); sisters Lorraine Thomas (Pinky), Janet Thomas (Lorraine) and Annmarie Thomas
(Precious); 14 grandchildren and numerous nieces, nephews, extended families, and friends.
