Headshot of a smiling women with long ringlet curlsComtech Services
April 2022

The team at Comtech and CIDM are very sad to announce the passing of our friend and colleague, Lovonya Thomas. Lovonya was Comtech’s workshop coordinator for 18 years and, as a result, everyone in our entire database, literally 1000s of people, knew her name, if they hadn’t met her directly. She was constantly emailing them to make sure they were aware of our upcoming trainings. While you might expect that people would ignore those emails, we received many memories from people who indicated that they always opened Lovonya’s emails. One person said, “Lovonya has been a welcome member of my “To Read” inbox for so many years – and during so many phases of my career! I faithfully opened Lovonya ‘s emails …. because they came from someone I DEFINITELY trusted through the years.”

Our clients remember Lovonya as warm, welcoming, and kind, patient with their questions and occasional struggles to get registered or to get information to her. Overwhelmingly, people remember her genuine and infectious smile. We’ve received over a hundred notes from clients and partners, from around the world – China, India, Israel, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Here are a few shared memories and tributes:

Lovonya was always kind and helpful. We never felt that we were bothering her and always knew we could count on her to get things done! We truly felt she went above and beyond to help us and now that we reflect on this, her kindness (and great smile!) is really what stands out for us.

I had many interactions with Lovonya, both by email and phone, and enjoyed each one. She always brought kindness, patience, and positivity to every situation.

She was such a dear, sweet person every time I saw her or we worked together on a webinar.

Lovonya, to me, was a wonderful face for Comtech, and I will really miss seeing her.

Lovonya was always our primary contact for any questions. She was one of the most responsive and politest people I have ever worked with.

Lovonya was always a true professional and pleasure to work with, alongside being warm, kind, and helpful.

We have always appreciated the professionalism and kind support from Lovonya. She was very efficient in solving all our issues and answering our requests positively and very quickly. She was knowledgeable and passionate about her work and life.

The way she responded and replied to queries was remarkable. Never had I any issues in understanding anything or asking her anything. I could easily sense her work ethic even if I never met her personally.

She was a beautiful person and always so helpful and always with a big smile.  She will be greatly missed.

At the office, Lovonya reminded each of us that we should have fun together as well as work together. She organized regular potlucks and activities for us. We were all together in December at our Christmas bowling party and annual White Elephant party. We will always remember the gift she brought: a belly bag – a fanny pack that looked like someone’s hairy belly. She laughed so hard with pleasure as we all traded and stole from each other over and over to get rid of it! We are grateful for that time we had in person to give us happy memories of time spent together, rather than the distant zoom calls that had become the norm during the pandemic.

Lovonya was the mother to DJ (16) and Laila (11). A GoFundMe page has been set up to help their father care for them. Cards and memories can still be sent to the Comtech offices (710 Kipling Street, Suite 400, Denver, CO 80215) or emailed to us, and we will pass them on to the family.

Lovonya’s responsibilities will be shared in the immediate future by Lisa Lambert ([email protected]) and Kathy Madison ([email protected]). If you have questions or concerns about any upcoming event, please contact them. We ask for your understanding in any hiccups as we adjust to our new reality.