WILKES-BARRE, Pa., Jan. 8 (AP)—Thelma Thomas, a survivor of the 1912 sinking of the Titanic, died Monday at a nursing home where she had been a patient for three weeks. She was 78.

A native of Lebanon who was immigrating to this country, Mrs. Thomas was aboard the Titanic when it struck an iceberg and sank With 1,513 passengers and crew. There were 705 survivors of whom fewer than 40 Americans are still living.

As the ship was going down, her brother-in-law, Charles Thomas, handed the woman's 3-month-old son, Essid [sic - Assad], to a woman in a lifeboat, Edwina McKenzie of California. The two women were reunited on NBC television's Today Show in 1972. Charles Thomas was among the passengers lost at sea.

Mrs. Thomas was separated from her son in the ensuing rescue, but was reunited when they got to New York City. Essid died at age 20. Survivors include a son, five daughters, a sister, 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.