Obituary of Iris Emelda Sewer-Thomas

Iris Emelda Sewer Thomas was born into this world on November 21, 1936 to the late Loman and Idalia Sewer. She was born on St. Thomas USVI in the Savan area. She attended Dober elementary and graduated from Charlotte Amalie HS. After graduating in 1956, Iris and her younger sister moved to New York along with her older sister Elaine. She worked several jobs before securing a position as a clerk with Amtrak. During her time in New York, Iris enjoyed spending time with her friends and family. Iris returned home to St. Thomas in 1974 to care for her ailing father. At that time, she began working for the VI Community action agency - Hotline. She stayed in St. Thomas for several years after her fathers passing, but in 1980 she returned to the states, settling in New Jersey. Shortly after arriving she began an 18 year career with NJ Transit. She decided to retire to concentrate on fulfilling her lifelong dream of finishing college. In June of 2003, she fulfilled that dream, graduating with her associates degree in communications from Essex County College at age 66. One of her accomplishments that Iris was proud of was completing an internship with Walt Disney World after graduating. The six weeks that she spent in Florida, reminded her so much of her beloved home that she decided to move there, in 2006.

Iris has an immense love of travel and enjoying many different cultural experiences. She was proud of her VI heritage and she always made it known that’s where she was from. She was known for her cooking and baking and family and friends always knew they were going to enjoy a great meal if Iris was in the kitchen.

Her children and her grandchildren were her pride and joy. She loved her family and their history. Almost anything you wanted to know about the Sewer family, she could tell you.
She was preceded in death by her parents Loman and Idalia Sewer, sisters Albertha Maynard and Elaine Donovan.

She leaves to mourn
children: Desiree Sewer-Vlad, Roland Nichols, Crystal Nichols, Toya Thomas
Daughter in law: Kimberly Newton - Nichols
Grandchildren: Frank Challenger Jr., Alexandrine Fraser-Nichols, Iyanla Mosley Thomas, Shiloh Nichols, Amalie Nichols
Sisters: Noel Sewer Ferguson, Doreen Sewer Fields, Lela Neymour
Sister in law: Mildred Knight
Brothers in law: Stanley Ferguson, Robert Fields, Derek Neymour



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