Earl Quigley Thumma Jr., 79, a resident of Mathews County, Virgina, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, September 20, 2025. Mr. Thumma was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on September 16, 1946, and was the son of the late Earl Quigley and Stella Cornman Thumma.
He graduated from Harrisonburg High School in 1964. He attended James Madison University for one year, where he played basketball, tennis, and golf. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Virginia in 1970 and a Juris Doctor degree from the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary in 1973. While in law school, he was in the U.S. Army ROTC program, where he was designated as a Distinguished Military Graduate and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1972. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve and, in 1980, received his honorable discharge with the rank of Captain. He was admitted to the bar in 1973, and in 1974, he returned to Harrisonburg to work for the Clark and Bradshaw law firm. In 1984, he helped form the law firm of Harrison & Thumma, P.C., and continued in the general practice of law. In July 1986, he was appointed as the City Attorney for the City of Harrisonburg, which at the time was a part-time position. He served as the part-time City Attorney from 1986 through June 2000, and from July 2004 until June 2005. In July 2005, he was appointed as the first full-time City Attorney for the City of Harrisonburg, a post he held until he retired in 2013. He also served as the attorney for the Industrial Development Authority for the City of Harrisonburg. After retiring, he moved to Mathews County, Virginia, where he continued his career as an amateur waterman by fishing, raising oysters, and crabbing.
On December 19, 1980, he married Linda Lee Preston, who survives him. He is also survived by his son, Christopher Preston Thumma (Emily); two sisters, Karen Thumma Clatterbuck (Dale) and Mary Thumma Broaddus (Jack); four grandchildren, Hunter Preston Carper (Bryanna), Berkley Carper Lipinski (Adam), Anne Preston Thumma, and Elizabeth Louise Thumma, and two great-grandchildren, Lacey and Sawyer. He was preceded in death by Lacy Thumma Dinsmore, his daughter, and William Quigley Dinsmore, his grandson.
He was a past member of Muhlenberg Lutheran Church in Harrisonburg, where he served on the church council and as chairman of the finance committee. He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha social fraternity and a member of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity. He was a member of the Harrisonburg Lions Club and served as its president in 1980. He served as president of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bar Association in 1985-86. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Hunter McGuire School in Verona, Virginia, and was the Chairman of the Board from 1995-1997.
He will be remembered for his humility, sense of humor, quick wit, and unwavering devotion to those he loved.
A celebration of life will be announced at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Meals on Wheels America (https://www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org) and Hands Across Mathews (https://www.handsacrossmathews.org).
Faulkner Funeral Homes, Foster-Faulkner Chapel, Mathews, is assisting the family.