SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Buddy Thomas, a decorated Marine veteran and longtime South Brunswick resident has died at age 88, Mayor Charlie Carley announced.
The mayor has directed that flags at all municipal buildings fly at half-staff through the next week in his memory.
"South Brunswick has lost a Marine, a husband, a father and a friend, and our hearts are with his family," Carley said in the statement.
Thomas was born in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1938. He joined the Marines in 1959 and served with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines — a unit known as "The Walking Dead" for the losses it suffered in Vietnam. He was shot in the abdomen at Da Nang, earning a Purple Heart, and was discharged as a sergeant in 1965.
He settled in South Brunswick, where he met his wife, Christine. The two were married 56 years. Christine worked more than 25 years as a paraprofessional in South Brunswick schools before her death in 2022.
"They worshiped at St. Cecilia's," Carley said. "Anyone who knew them will tell you the same thing: they met you with a hug and a smile, and you left feeling better than when you came."
Buddy and Christine raised three children — Joseph, Constance and Michael. Joseph followed his father into the Marines. Both Joseph and Constance died before their parents.
After Christine's death, Thomas continued volunteering with the Marine Toys for Tots holiday drive and pushed to have the POW/MIA flag raised at every public school and township building in South Brunswick.
South Brunswick named Thomas a Living Local Legend in 2019. On Veterans Day 2024, the township dedicated the street sign at Hillside Avenue and New Road in Monmouth Junction in his honor, Patch reported at the time.
Thomas is survived by his son, Michael, and daughter-in-law, Natalie; granddaughters Constance and Kandace; and great-grandson Ryder.
"South Brunswick remembers, and we will not forget him," Carley said.
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