Photo: Contributed

Three generations of the Thomas family (from left) Lloyd Thomas, his nephew Brian Thomas, and Brian's nephew Hayden Zahrawi get together on the Thomas Ranch in Okanagan Falls.

The Thomas family has been ranching in the South Okanagan since the late 1800s, and now Lloyd Thomas has made a significant contribution to the Penticton Regional Hospital upgrade campaign in honour of his entire family.

The South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation is raising funds to provide medical equipment for phase two of the PRH expansion, including a major upgrade to the hospital’s Emergency Department due to be completed by the fall of 2021.

Lloyd decided to make a significant contribution, the amount of which he prefers to keep private. 

He was born in the former Penticton hospital on Haven Hill, and said donating to the PRH seemed like the right thing to do. 

"Everybody in our family has used it over the years,” he said. “It’s time we contributed something back.”

His father moved to the Okanagan in 1898 to work the ranch of Penticton pioneer Tom Ellis. Over the years, he built up land of his own, with the Thomas ranch covering almost 2,000 acres at its peak. 

Lloyd was a welder and worked on major projects around the province including the Kelowna floating bridge, Seymour River dam near Vancouver, pulp mills in Prince George and highway avalanche sheds through Rogers Pass.

Eventually Lloyd returned to his family roots, helping brother Morrie run the ranch. The family sold most of their ranch to The Nature Trust in 2000, and Morrie’s son Brian now operates it under a lease agreement.

Lloyd and his wife Gloria have no children of their own, although Gloria has children from a previous marriage.