Tommy Henry Stewart

Tommy Henry Stewart was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on January 25, 1932 to Cliff Henry Stewart and Vera Ann Chapman Stewart. He grew up in Tulsa, attending Central High School. He met Marilyn Richardson, the love of his life, in the summer between ninth and tenth grades. Just out of high school, they married and he joined the navy. During his four years in the navy, they lived in San Diego and Long Beach California. They had very fond memories of their time in California. After the navy, they returned to Tulsa and started a family. They raised Jo, Jeff, and Karen in their home in east Tulsa. In the mid-seventies, Tom obtained his electrical contractor license and opened Atom Electric. While operating his business, he taught several people the electrical trade. He became Papa in 1983, and served in this distinguished role for five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Tom's life was defined by his faith in Jesus Christ, whom he accepted in his early teens. He had a servant's heart and he followed the Lord's direction for his life. He led his family to love and follow Christ through his words and actions. He reached out to others, many times utilizing his ability to fix anything. His talents included electrical work, construction, automotive repair, air conditioning servicing, and he loved to tinker.

Tom's career spanned over forty years. In addition to the navy, where he attained the rank on EM-3, he worked at Douglas Aircraft, Dowell, Jones and Laughlin, and MetLife. His co-workers always had wonderful compliments about him and remarked that he was such a pleasure to work with.

Tom was always an active church member and even helped start a church in Point Loma, California with his wife, Marilyn while he was in the navy. As a young man, he was the Sunday School director for North Lewis Baptist Church in Tulsa. As a long-time member of Eastwood Baptist, he taught sixth-grade boys Sunday school for some twenty years and with his wife he began a weekly nursing home ministry that continued for almost ten years. After retirement, he joined Oklahoma Baptist Builders, using his construction talents to help build several churches in Oklahoma and several other states. He also joined the Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief team, which helped many people recover their lives after major storms. Through this, he served on a team in south Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. As a member of Garnett Road Baptist, he worked to maintain the church building and helped its members with problems they had around their houses. When they moved to Plano, they joined Hunters Glen Baptist and gained invaluable friends who helped Tom and Marilyn through their final days.

Tom enjoyed spending time with his family, jazz music from the fifties, wood carving, and fishing. He often reminisced about his time in the navy. He got the most enjoyment from helping as many people as he could, even complete strangers.

He spent his final years taking care of Marilyn as she dealt with Alzheimer's disease. This prompted them to move to Plano to be near family who could assist in Marilyn's care. After living with severe arthritis for most of his life, battling heart disease which included open-heart surgery, and finally fighting leukemia, he found dealing with Marilyn's dementia was his greatest challenge. Tom handled all of these trials with incredible grace, never complaining about anything.

Tom had an epic sense of humor. He always had a joke to tell. He would lighten every conversation with his wit and wisdom. Nothing would get him down. Even when he was enduring a very tough round of chemotherapy in the last weeks of his life, he would joke with his doctors and nurses. They would say, like everyone else who knew him, "I just love Tom".
A funeral service will be held February 9, 2017, 9:30 am at Allen Family Funeral Options, 2120 W Spring Creek Pkwy St. E Plano Texas 75023. A burial will follow at 11:30 am at DFW National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy, Dallas TX.