Rebekka “Bekka” Thomas, of Woodbridge, VA, was born on April 25, 1985 and passed away on November 22, 2018. She is the daughter of John and Kathi; sister of T. J., Zachary and Hannah; and the niece of Teri and Patty.
When I met Bekka, she was attending nursing school with a mutual friend. Prior to this, I know that she served in the Marines. In addition to obtaining her nursing degree in 2014, she also trained as a paramedic and firefighter. She loved animals and volunteered at Fairfax County Animal Shelter and had several cats of her own, some named after characters from a TV show she loved, NCIS.
She was an avid fan of the Washington Capitals hockey team since her childhood and we became season ticket holders. She was determined to attend every game the first year we had the tickets. We had a lot of fun that year attending the special fan events with the players like the Casino Night, a night at Six Flags and at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Before she passed away, she was able to see them win the Stanley Cup. Her favorite player was Brooks Laich (#21) and she was wearing his jersey when she got to meet legendary player Rod Langway, who was also known as the “Secretary of Defense” since he would honor fans with military service.
She also had an interest in astronomy. I remember one night we wanted to watch the Perseid meteor shower and we drove trying to find a place not so affected by light pollution. But in the end, we weren’t able to find a good viewing spot because we weren’t able to get far enough from the city. We also attended an event together at the Air and Space Museum where they keep the exhibits open all night long and have special presentations like a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Unexpectedly, she was able to meet one of her idols who was a speaker, Nicole Malachowski, USAF and the first female pilot for the Thunderbirds. She came with me to NYC to attend the unveiling of the Star Trek stamp where we met Walter Koenig (Chekov) and Rene Auberjonois (Odo). At the time, the design studio that I worked for was involved in the art direction for the stamp. In addition, she was able to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum which was very personal for her.
During the time I knew Bekka, she was struggling through a lot of adversity and health issues. However, I also knew her to be very fun-loving, eager to do adventurous things when she could. And she pushed me to try new things that I probably would not have had I not known her. I think she would appreciate this final adventure to space.
