Christopher Yancy Thomas was born in Roanoke, Virginia in 1900 and moved to Topeka, Kansas with his family when he was a child. Thomas attended Purdue University and earned a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He married Dorothea Engel in 1922.

Thomas began working for the Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Company in the 1930s, eventually becoming chief engineer of the company. In 1941 he helped Kenneth Spencer establish Jayhawk Ordinance Works, also in Pittsburg, Kansas, which Spencer later bought in order to begin the Spencer Chemical Company. Thomas would go on to be Chairman of the Board of Spencer Chemical Company and would continue to serve in high-level positions with the company after Spencer was purchased by Gulf Oil Company in the 1960s.

Thomas was also involved with many civic and fraternal organizations, including United Way, the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), the Freemasons, and the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri.

Thomas was also deeply involved in politics in Mission Hills, Johnson County, Kansas, serving as mayor, chairman of the Republican Party in Mission Hills, and Kansas State Senator from 1969-1972. Thomas participated in the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging, the Advisory Council on Energy Policy, Baker University's Board of Regents, and the University of Kansas.

Thomas was deeply interested in history and compiled materials about his family history, including their family history dating back to Colonial America, and the family of his wife, Dorothea Engel. He also gathered information about his brother, Thomas C. Thomas, and Thomas's time at the United States Naval Academy and subsequent career in the United States Navy.

C. Y. Thomas died in 1981.