In Memory
Neil M. Thomas, of American Honeycomb, 1922-2006
By goHTSN Staff
Mar 6, 2006, 06:51

Neil Monroe Thomas, 84, of Red Bank, New Jersey, died January 25, 2006. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he lived most of his life in Staten Island, New York, before moving to Holmdel, New Jersey where he lived for 20 years prior to moving to Red Bank, NJ over four years ago.

Mr. Thomas's career was in the automotive industry. He co-owned with his brother, Thomas Brothers Sales Corporation of which Thomas Brothers Radiator Service was a part, and owned American Honeycomb Radiator Manufacturing Corporation. Both companies were based in Staten Island on Arthur Kill Road.

Mr. Thomas was nationally and internationally known as an artisan because of his painstaking attention to detail in restoring antique radiators for prize-winning vintage automobiles and airplanes. Commissioned by museums, his work has been in collections in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, and the Royal Air Force Museum in Great Britain, in addition to private collections.

He was an avid craftsman, building his own vintage airplane, an SE5a British bi-plane, a model used in World War I. He also built a French-style farmhouse on Staten Island that was prompted by his experiences in Belgium during World War II where he served as a first lieutenant in the 9th Army. He was graduated from Wagner College in Staten Island magna cum laude in 1949.

Mr. Thomas was predeceased by his two brothers, Bruce and Edward Thomas and his first wife, Solveig Liland Thomas. He is survived by his second wife, Regina Dreyer Thomas, his daughter Marilyn Macdonald and her husband, Stephen, his daughter Geri Carfagna and her husband, Paul, two granddaughters, three great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be held at Christ Lutheran Church on March 11, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of choice or to the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, 305 Seventh Ave., 19th Fl., NY, NY 10001.

Editor's note: Neil Thomas sold his company, American Honeycomb Manufacturing to Chuck Niles in 2005. Chuck has been in the radiator business for 30 years. He does all types of radiator work but specializes in vintage radiators. The new location of American Honeycomb Radiator is: 885 Litchfield Road, Bowdoin, ME 04287-7001. Call: 207-666-8111, email: honeycomb@suscom-maine.net