Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 7-16-21

Feature
Tampa Native Is Proud Of His Olympics-Bound Niece Gabby Thomas
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
Tampa native and Hillsborough High graduate Jeffrey Amos has done a lot of positive things in his life. Always looking to help people, he re- turned to Tampa after meeting the second love of his life, Yolanda Amos, and immediately started coaching young people in basketball.
Amos loves guiding children and is very apparent in his relationship with his niece and goddaughter, Olympic Track and Field star, Gabrielle Thomas.
Gabrielle Thomas’ mother is the sister of Amos’ first wife, the late Andrea Amos. They were married over 32 years and looked after Thomas often. Thomas even lived with her favorite aunt and uncle while her mother went back to school.
Amos describes Thomas as very polite and obedient, while being ex-
JEFF AMOS and his niece, Olympics track and field star, GABRIELLE ‘ Gabby’ THOMAS
tremely outgoing and enthusiastic about life. He describes her as “pure sunshine.”
Before the Olympics was can- celled for spectators, the Amos fam-
ily had planned on attending to wit- ness Thomas run.
Amos has been a father figure to both Thomas and her mother. He has been a steadfast advocate, at- tending all of Thomas’ graduations across the U.S.
Many people worldwide are look- ing forward to seeing Thomas run. She has been an advocate for Black athletes in the Tokyo Olympics, urg- ing people to not boycott and to sup- port the remaining Black athletes after Sha'Carri Richardson’s sus- pension.
Thomas comes from an extremely high-achieving family, with her mother teaching at the University of Massachusetts after completing her PhD. at Emory University. In Massa- chusetts, Thomas joined the track and field team. In high school, Thomas ran all four years for Willis- ton Northampton School where she set multiple school records and was MVP every year.
She graduated from Harvard Uni- versity where she studied neurobiol- ogy and global health. At Harvard, Thomas won 22 conference titles in three years of athletic eligibility, set- ting school and Ivy League records. She signed a contract with New Bal- ance and turned pro in October 2018.
She is pursuing a master's degree at the University of Texas at Austin in epidemiology.
Amos is retired from a varied ca- reer that started in the Air Force. After leaving, he furthered his educa- tion at Valdosta State University for his bachelor and master’s degrees.
He is married to Yolanda Yvette Amos, together they have 5 adult children, 11 grandchildren, and 2 great-grands. They are very active in their church and community and are enjoying life. They are the own- ers and operators of Black Treasurers Investments, a non-profit organiza- tion dedicated to helping youth.
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