#people/80s #people/aids-quilt

Don Thomas

Don Thomas was described as a "witty, successful businessman." He was involved with the Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church, and Network PSN.

In September, 1985, he passed away due to AIDS. He is memorialized in The AIDS Quilt in a panel stitched by Gloria Latimer. In it, she stitched the words "Sleep with the angels." [1]

Don Thomas' favorite way to tell his friends good night

Sleep with the angels.

One of Don's last wishes to his friends was to "do whatever we could to make sure this wouldn't happen to anyone else."

Key Dates

Memory and Connections

Gloria Latimer, on stitching Don Thomas' AIDS quilt panel

"The thing that surprised us most was how easy it was to feel he had died just yesterday...It was kind of like saying 'good-bye' all over again, and we all thought we were a little bit beyond that..."

A note that accompanied Don's quilt panel

You sleep with the angels now. We love you and miss you ...

Don Thomas - Gayspeak - September 1985.png​

References

  1. “Sleeping with the Angels Quilts Help Tell the Tales of Lives of AIDS Victims.” PPLD Digital Collections, https://digitalcollections.ppld.org/nodes/view/1003967. Accessed 24 Jan. 2026. ↩︎