Grandma Who Met Pope Dies at 103

A Much-loved great, great grandmother who met Pope John Paul II in Rome five years ago has died aged 103.

Virginia Thomas, who lived with her daughter Kathleen Griffiths in Holmwood Drive, Tuffley, died on Sunday night (May 22). Mother-of-eleven Mrs Thomas had 42 grandchildren, 80 great grandchildren and three great, great grandchildren.

An amazing five generations of the family live within minutes of each other in Gloucester, while the extended family stretches around the world.

"In a word my mother was simply the best," said Mrs Griffiths, who looked after the grand old lady for the past nine years.

"Everybody who knew her loved her.

"All my mother ever wanted was to be with her family and friends."

"My mother was very adventurous, going up in a hot-air balloon on her 90th birthday and later in a helicopter."

A devout Catholic, Mrs Thomas finally succeeded in meeting the late Pope in the Vatican in 1999.

When she was interviewed by The Citizen on her 100th birthday, she explained: "I've seen lots of popes come and go, and in 1999 I got to meet John Paul II at the Vatican.

"It was because my granddaughter wrote to him telling him I was coming to Italy and that I was a fan."

Virginia and her late husband arrived in Gloucester 83 years ago, having moved from Evesham.

They had 11 children together and ten of them are still alive.

"I've also got very strong memories of giving birth to my 11 children," she told The Citizen in 2002.

The funeral service will be held at English Martyrs' Church in Tuffley Lane on Tuesday (31 May) at 12.45pm.

Parish Priest at English Martyrs, Father Keith Miles said, “Virginia was a lovely lady whose faith was very much at the centre of her life. She had a great personal love for Pope John Paul II and was delighted to meet him in 1999. She was very sad when he died.”

This article was first published in ‘The Gloucester Citizen’.
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