Thomases Carry On Dad’s Aid to St. Jude
“It actually could run without the Thomases, but we’re the flag carriers and we represent our dad,” said Marlo Thomas of the work she and her mother Rose Marie, brother Tony and sister Terre do on behalf of St. Jude Research Hospital, founded by the late Danny Thomas in 1962.
The Thomas family was undeniably carrying the flag Friday night at the Century Plaza at the 13th annual St. Jude dinner, the second held since Danny Thomas’ death. The event raised $750,000 for the hospital.
“This is another child to the Thomas family,” said Phil Donahue, Marlo’s husband, of the Memphis hospital where the Thomases continue to make regular visits and get to know the pediatric cancer patients, just as their father did. “We’ve seen the frightened parents and the children going through chemotherapy and fighting for their lives,” said Tony Thomas.
“This is as integral part of the Thomas family as the grandchildren,” Donahue added.
Being a show business family, the Thomases also know enough about audiences to keep speeches at a minimum.
After dinner, they brought on the entertainment, Whitney Houston, making her first public appearance since the birth of her baby three months ago.
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