Bodybuilder worked on laugh muscles, too

Ed Thomas, who won an armload of trophies for his sculpted muscles in Colorado bodybuilding contests, died of cardiac arrest on June 9. He was 43 years old. 
 
Thomas competed in the men's Masters division in the bodybuilding competitions he entered once or twice a year. He placed among the top finishers and won at least one competition. He also rated third in the 2001 Cyto Charge Colorado bodybuilding championships.

Thomas divided his life between his home, his office and 24-Hour Fitness. A naturally disciplined man - he went to the gym daily - he was always fit.

His interest in bodybuilding began about eight years ago, when his wife, Greta, was pregnant with their son, Brandon. Thomas' first competition was around the time Brandon was born in 1996. He did so well that he decided to make bodybuilding, and the occasional competition, part of his life.

Every November, he entered the Rocky Mountain Bodybuilding Competition, along with a couple of smaller shows. He learned to chisel his diet as well as his muscles. When he was preparing for a show, he cut back "until he was down to Cream of Wheat, steak and chicken," Greta Thomas said.

Between competitions, he relaxed that strict nutritional regimen and allowed himself to eat chips and desserts. The muscle definition softened into an athlete's smooth lines, without going to fat. His arms and legs still bulged with muscles so swollen he often had a tough time finding clothes that fit.

If the waistband was the right size, it was impossible to jam his legs into the pants without splitting a seam, and his shoulders defeated conventional Oxford shirts.

"He didn't talk much about bodybuilding at work, but we definitely knew about it," said his executive assistant, Jennifer Castro.

Thomas was the facilities director for General Electric, "which meant he was in charge of anything that involved a building and anything outside it - landscaping, cleaning, fire prevention, security, everything," Castro said.

He was in charge of GE's recent move from Boulder to Westminster, an enormous project that involved creating office space for 350 staffers, starting with nothing but two barren floors and within two months filling the space with cubicles, lounges, break rooms and conference rooms.

He still worked out every day, and he found time to play practical jokes on his co-workers. He once bought, in Castro's words, "an electronic whoopee cushion" and installed it under her desk after he sent her on an improvised errand.

Immediately upon the first noisy, but odorless, interruption, Castro knew what was up. She found the device, with some assistance from another coworker's deliriously amused son.

Other times, Thomas would close the door to his office and call his friends, beginning by saying something like: "This is Captain so-and-so from the county police, and we have something we'd like to discuss with you." Sometimes it took his friends several minutes to catch on.

Most of the time, though, Thomas was all business at work, just as he focused on weightlifting at the gym and on his children and stepchildren at home. The calendar in his office at GE was a standard, sober one - unless his staff surreptitiously replaced it.

"We loved to play pranks on him anytime he went on a business trip or on vacation," Castro said. "We'd wallpaper his office. We'd switch his calendar to a bodybuilding one. We played at least as many practical jokes on him as he did on us."

Survivors include his wife, Greta Thomas of Denver; daughters Traci Thomas-Carter of Davenport, Iowa, LaKae Cruz of Des Moines, Iowa; Nicki Thomas and Ali Thomas both of Littleton; son Brandon; parents Ben and Carolyn McDonald of Davenport; sister Kay McIntyre of Davenport; and brothers John Troxell of Fort Drum, N.Y., and Tom Thomas of Highlands Ranch.