Thad died of cancer December 28, 2005, at St. Luke's Medical Center, in Boise. He was raised in Oklahoma and got his bachelor's degrees in history and education while attending Oklahoma State on a football scholarship.

Thad taught and coached football in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Idaho. He was a school principal in Fairfield, Idaho, and Beaver, Oklahoma, and worked summers as a smokejumper at McCall where he put in 32 seasons. Thad logged over 120 days a season skiing and could be found playing tennis or hiking during the other months.