| Roles held: | 4th Lieutenant 1980 – 1987 |
| Captain 1976 – 1980 | |
| Secretary 1973 – 1976 | |
| 1st Lieutenant 1969 – 1976 | |
| 4th Lieutenant 1968 – 1969 | |
| Firefighter 1967 – 1968 | |
In Jim Thomas’ words:
I came to live in Shoreham, after being born and raised in Daylesford and completing my schooling at the Daylesford Technical High School. I started a career in technical drawing in Melbourne but soon discovered that I would rather work outdoors, which led me returning to Daylesford after my father’s death and beginning work as an apprentice carpenter and joiner with a local builder. During this time I met members of the Neale Wright family who were holidaying in the area, one of whom was Susanne, later to become my wife. The builder I was working for decided to retire early and I was left with a year to serve to complete my apprenticeship. Sue’s eldest brother Hilton, who was also a carpenter, arranged for me to move and complete my apprenticeship with the builder he was working with in Flinders. I made the move in 1963 and began working for Mr. Ike Redpath, a builder from Cook St Flinders. I worked for him for about 5 years before I began working for my father-in-law, Neale Wright, as a contract timber feller and, later, as a truck driver. During this period Susanne and I were married and, we had three children, Annmaree, Daniel and Rachelle, and I had become very active in local affairs, being a member of the Shoreham Progress Association, The Shoreham Foreshore Committee and, of course, the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade.
In 1972, I began working for B. P. at their Western Port Refinery, where I stayed until the refinery closure in 1986. Throughout this time, we had built and lived in three houses in Shoreham, the first being one of the original houses on the Point Leo Views Estate, the second was in Oxford St and, the third being near the creek on the corner of May St.
During my years with the Shoreham Fire Brigade, I held the positions of 4th Lt, 3rd Lt, Secretary, 1st Lt and Captain.
My wife Susanne was the foundation president of the Auxiliary, which was formed around 1969-70, and she was to remain in this position until 1986, at which time we moved to operate a caravan park which we had bought.
We were presented with a beautiful, engraved silver tray at a going away function organised by the brigade on our behalf and, the kind words expressed to us on that occasion will remain with me forever.
Jim Thomas
An extract from the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade, 50th Anniversary Booklet (1999)