Island Icons:
Ralph & Mary Ann Thomas By Jan Cobertt, Coronado Historical Association Volunteer & CHA Staff The monthly column, Island Icons, of historical vignettes from the Coronado Historical Association features insights and personal memories of locals. An initiative of CHA and its community volunteers, it is the product of a special archival oral history project that records the local personal histories that may be lost in the near future. This month’s Island Icon’s are Ralph Thomas, whose birthday was just last month, and his wife Mary Ann Thomas.
Imagine having to take a boat from Marin County to Letterman Hospital at the Presidio because the Golden Gate Bridge was under construction. This month’s Island Icon, Ralph Thomas, was born in San Francisco in 1936, after his mother’s ferry trip to get to the hospital. Years later, Ralph would ride the Coronado-San Diego ferry to court our other Island Icon, Mary Ann Thomas, when he first came to live in San Diego from 19591960 while on active duty in the U.S. Navy. Their courtship ended in marriage, now going 59 years strong. Mary Ann was born in Washington D.C. and her father, Capt. Frank Robert McCrary, moved the family to Coronado when she was two months old. Captain McCrary was the first naval lighter-than-air (LTA) pilot
Mary Ann and Ralph at their wedding at the Chapel at North Island.
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Photo courtesy of the Thomases
