Patrick Thomas is a member of the Thomas Family. He is the ex-husband of Elizabeth Thomas and the biological father of Charlie, Sam, Kristy, and David Michael. His third and current wife is Zoey Thomas.
Physical Appearance[]
By Kristy's Big News, he is described as having long hair. He is also described as having a beard.
He did not have a beard in BSC in the USA when she saw him at the baseball game. Kristy also notes that he was thinner.
Biography[]
Patrick has only been seen once in the books, but has been mentioned quite a bit. He was part of one of the main plots in The Summer Before when Kristy kept hoping her father would return for her birthday.
He has a brother named Ray mentioned in Kristy's Big News and both of his parents are gone. He had four children with Elizabeth : Charlie, Sam, Kristy, and David Michael.
One day, when David Michael was just a newborn baby, Patrick just walked out and never came back. He is divorced from Mrs. Thomas, who has now remarried and is Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer. It was a pretty messy divorce. He left Mrs. Thomas took care of four kids on her own, including a newborn baby. Kristy has said that she and her brothers never see their father, he never writes or calls, and they haven't seen him in years. Patrick forgets his kids' birthdays and doesn't send much child support money and only when he could. During the series, he lives in California and had remarried by the time Kristy was in sixth grade. In BSC in the USA, Kristy narrates that he last heard living in the Sausalito area.
Kristy tried to write a letter to Patrick in the BSC Prequel The Summer Before, but he didn't respond.
In the years leading up the divorce he would say things like, "I'm fed up with this life" or "I'd be better off without you and the kids." When Elizabeth called the newspaper he worked for, Patrick told his boss that he quit and was heading out west. His boss assumed that he was taking his family as mentioned in Kristy's Book.
In Kristy's Book, Kristy recalls how recently, "last spring", Patrick came to Stoneybrook and met up with her several times, but she had to keep the meetings secret from her family, because he wanted to meet up with only her and not her brothers, and he didn't want Elizabeth to know. Kristy keeps the secret for a while but it is very stressful for her to complete her household chores and come up with enough lies to cover for meeting up with him. He gives her a baseball glove, but it is a right-handed glove and she is left-handed. Eventually, she can't keep it secret any longer and tells Watson she has been meeting up with her real father. One day, Patrick leaves town and doesn't show up for a planned meeting, and Kristy tells her mother the truth.
He doesn't have a good relationship with Charlie at all. When Kristy saw him at the Giants game in BSC in the USA, he forgot to ask how Charlie, Sam, and David Michael were.
Before the events of BSC in the USA it's unclear where he had been living in California. In the book we learn he was living in the Sausalito area, where he was living when he met Zoey Thomas. He introduced the woman he had with him as his girlfriend meaning he had divorced once more, since it's explicitly mentioned that he was married by Kristy in Kristy's Great Idea and by Mary Anne in Mary Anne and Camp BSC.
In Kristy's Big News, he is now is a chef, he had picked up cooking after interviewing a former baseball player that had picked it up and tried it himself. He now lives in San Francisco in the Sausalito area and is married to Zoey Thomas. When the time of his wedding with Zoey came along, he didn't invite David Michael. He works at Zoey's restaurant called The Greenhouse. He mentioned to do some freelance writing. He told Sam, Charlie, and Kristy a story about how he borrowed a tux and had ripped the pants before. He also mentioned that he lived on a boathouse.
Speculation[]
It has never been explained why Patrick left them but it has been said it might be because he didn't want the responsibility that came along with having four kids and just left. It is unknown if he knows that Elizabeth is remarried or if he even cares. He does know where Elizabeth lives though.
Kristy Thomas has a vague mention of her dad talking about a great-great aunt Mary, however that could be her thinking about the missing fortune in Kristy and the Missing Fortune.
In Mary Anne and Camp BSC, Mary Anne notes that he has a new family out in California with his second wife. It's likely he has step-children or a child of their own from the union. By BSC in the USA they are separated.
Job[]
In the movie, he was a sports writer. He used to work for the paper in Kristy's Book and would cover local and out of state games.
In Mind Your Own Business, Kristy!, Kristy mentions that her dad used to play in the minor leagues. When Kristy was in sixth grade, he moved around a lot and worked temporary jobs. Kristy hears about some of his minor league days in Kristy's Book, such as when he'd pull pranks on his teammates, such as putting itching powder in a buddy's pants before a date.
In Kristy and the Missing Child, Elizabeth said she thought he was doing something with horses.
In The Summer Before it's mentioned that he had temp jobs that didn't pay very well.
Trivia[]
- Similar to his daughter Kristy, Patrick likes baseball and is a Giants fan.
- He likes to sit on the first base side.
- He once promised Kristy that they would visit all of the major league ballparks together. They only made it to Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium before he left the family.
- David Michael barely knew his father since he was a baby when he left and doesn't remember him at all.
- He did send Kristy a brief Christmas card in The Baby-Sitters Club Secret Santa.
- In the Baby-Sitters Club movie, he comes back for a summer and spends time with just Kristy but cautions her to keep his appearance a secret.
- Patrick has been married three times.
- Kristy describes her dad as restless, forever moving, and the type to keep busy.
- Kristy doesn't think of him as her father anymore and doesn't call him dad in Kristy's Big News.
- He acts like a big kid according to his third wife, Zoey Thomas, in Kristy's Big News
- Claudia Kishi did not like him as a child as mentioned in The Baby-sitters Remember.
- Despite being talked about, he never appears in the main series not counting the spin off books.
- Kristy writes a letter to him saying that he sent her a postcard and had mentioned a job interview in BSC in the USA.
- Kristy admits that she doesn't think about him in Aloha, Baby-sitters!.
- When he lived in Stoneybrook, he used to work for the newspaper in Kristy's Book. It's unclear if this was the Stoneybrook News or the Stoneybrook Gazette.
Media Portrayls[]
Movie[]
He is played by actor Peter Horton.
Netflix Series[]
Patrick does not make an appearance, however, he is brought up and talked about in the episode Kristy and the Baby Parade. He is married to a woman named Jocelyn and has another child with her. This could likely be his second wife from the books.