hadn't looked at the score in years, Thomas performed the role at the age of 54, relying on a memory of the role, with some prompting. The next day, headlines proclaimed Thomas's eleventh-hour rescue for Die Walküre. Thomas's farewell performance took place in the title role of Parsifal with the Metropolitan Opera in 1982, while it was on tour in Washington, D.C. In 1997, on request of Thomas's widow, Violeta Thomas, the Austrian sculptor Hortensia Fussy made a portrait of Jess Thomas, showing him as Siegfried with his sword. The sculpture was donated to the Austrian Theatre Museum in 2002. References External links Jess Thomas biography Obituary: Jess Thomas Obituary in The New York Times History of the Tenor / Jess Thomas / Sound clips and narration 1927 births 1993 deaths People from Hot Springs, South Dakota University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni American operatic tenors Heldentenors Singers from South Dakota Classical musicians from South Dakota 20th-century American male opera singers