Thomas went to sleep in death on the afternoon of November 21st after a long battle with cancer. He was surrounded and supported by his loving family throughout the end of his life. Tom was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved to San Francisco, California in 1960 with his older brothers, Bob and Dick. After completing his term of Coast Guard service, he met the love of his life, Janice, at a Creedance Clearwater Revival concert in Long Beach. They soon married and raised eight children together. In 1976 Los Angeles, Tom was baptized in a vegetable trough as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, and he lived the rest of his life devoted to faith and family.

Tom also loved airplanes and aviation. His father trained as a pilot in the US Army Air Corps in the 1920's, and all of his sons inherited a love of flying and aircraft. Tom and his brothers designed, built, and flew control line airplanes together in the 1950's and 60's, inspiring him to come up with his own aircraft designs. After his Coast Guard service, a good pilot buddy was killed in a tragic plane crash. Tom worked on a new and safer aircraft designed using "triangular construction," as well as a new design for self-extinguishing fuel tanks. He built, tested, and revised the craft's design many times before finalizing it and applying for a patent. Tom continued to improve the design over time and made a number of control line and RC variants, one of which was tested by a very experienced RC pilot who complemented its flight characteristics. While he dreamed his whole life of building a full-scale version of the aircraft, the skills he acquired in design, construction and mechanics were put to good use in business. He designed and built an entire truck-mounted carpet cleaning and extraction system, with which he supported his family for decades. His kids always knew where to find him when he was home from work, in the garage fixing or inventing tools to help solve some lingering problem.

Tom was a loving and dedicated husband and father who was always ready to take time to help family and friends. His family and friends describe him as generous, hard working, extremely loyal, and a "superman". He was the devoted patriarch of his family, and many outside the family viewed him as a father figure, mentor, and protector. He made sure that his huge family regularly attended congregation meetings and taught others about God's promises for the future. He looked past the appearance and circumstance of people and always saw the good he could help to flourish within them. Although we miss him dearly, we find comfort in his example of faith, and he knew that he would remain in Jehovah's memory. Tom took to heart the scripture at Daniel 12:13, "You will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of days."

Thomas is survived by his wife of 55 years, Janice, and eight children (and spouses): Justin (Jenna), Sara (Leo), Tim (Helen), Nathan (Jocelyn), Anna, Ben (Carolyn), Emily (Jon), and Jamie; fifteen grandchildren: Justin, Jasmine, Gabriella, Violet, Zoeyann, Judah, Lennon, Alyanna, Ysabella, Matthew, Lillian, Zechariah, Shiloh, Walker, and Shanaya; and great grandchild, Emerson. Tom is also survived by his brothers: Dick and Don, extended family Sandy, Terri, Gloria, Joseph, Monique, Suzanne. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ora and Frances, and his older brother Bob.