A Columbia International University alumna who was an inspiration for a TV show went home to be with her Lord on Dec. 13, 2022.

Sue Thomas, who was deaf since she was 18 months old, found a career with the FBI as a “secret weapon” because of her mastery of lip-reading. Her success inspired a popular television show starring Deanne Bray in the early 2000s, “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye” that was loosely based on her experiences.

In spite of her FBI career, Thomas realized, that she still wasn't happy with her life, because she was unhappy with God for allowing her to be deaf. So, she left the FBI in 1984 to attend CIU (or Columbia Bible College & Seminary as it was known then), a decision that changed her life.

“I came to this school for one reason,” Thomas said in a CIU Chapel message. “To prove that God had made a mistake ... but I'm the one who wound up doing the confessing.”

She said she was selfish and wanted to name herself the great I Am, which was destructive. Rather, she came around to naming God as her great I Am, a decision she said every believer must make.

Although she did not receive a degree from CIU, Thomas received something much more valuable – her salvation. Reflecting on CIU’s motto ”To Know Him and to Make Him Known,” Thomas said in another Chapel message, “Friends, I know Him, and with every breath I want to make Him known.”

Thomas used her platform as a former FBI agent and a television personality to share the message of God's salvation to all who would listen to her.

Sue Thomas was 72 years old. Read more about her life and passing in this report from WKBN Television Youngstown, Ohio.