Burma Fay Thomas

Obituaries

Wednesday, 17 June 2020 10:24

Burma Fay Thomas, 80 of Scottsboro, was born on Thursday, December 28, 1939 and passed away Monday, June 8, 2020. Private funeral services were held for the family.
Burma retired as a computer operator at the Revere Copper and Brass Company and Norandal Aluminum Company. She owned and operated the Sand Mountain Sorghum Company, founded by her father in 1950. She successfully expanded the company across the southeast. If you ever met her she would say, “These are the best products. I’ll give you a sample.” There was no order too small. She loved her customers and would deliver no matter how far. Burma also loved living on the Tennessee River, where she enjoyed watching osprey, eagles, finches, humming birds and most of all her wood ducks.
Burma was also an accomplished professional bass angler with a true love of fishing. She fished bass tournaments across the U.S. from New York to New Mexico. Burma began fishing professionally in 1976 when there were only tournaments for men. The first men’s professional bass tournament that Burma competed in was August of 1976, and she finished in sixth place. She fished women’s professional circuits from 1981 to 1997. During this time, she achieved many accomplishments, won 17 titles across the U.S., yielding her 17 fully rigged bass boats, she was named Angler of the Year three times, she won two Classic World Championships, published in the 1983 Encyclopedia Britannica yearbook and was the only female on the Evinrude, Fish Formula and GNB Battery teams. Burma loved sharing fishing with others and taught fishing techniques at seminars and special events. Her peers gave her the nickname Burning Burma because she was an unstoppable force on the fishing trail.
Now she can fish again with her favorite partner, Sonny.
She is survived by her daughters, Shelia Ann Thomas, Debra Lynn (Rick) Barnett; son, Gerry Lee (Kathy) Thomas, Jr..
She was preceded in death by her husband, Gerry Lee Thomas, Sr. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to castinncatchin.org.