Thomas James Almond

Thomas James Almond Sr., 82, died Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, at his home in Orange, Texas, following complications due to a stroke. A graveside service to honor Tommy's life will be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Beaumont, Texas with Dr. Stephen Dollar officiating. Dorman Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. 

Tommy, as he was known to family and friends, was born Jan. 21, 1938, in Denver, CO to Thelma Angeline Alexander and James Henry Almond. He graduated from Douglas County High School in Colorado in 1956 and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving four years. He was last stationed at a base in Lake Charles, La., and after leaving the USAF Tommy worked as an operator at Dupont in Beaumont, Texas. He met Mary Blanche Marburger in Beaumont and they married on August 4, 1961.

They had two daughters and a son, Cindy, Thomas Jr., and Colleen and in 1967 the family moved to Jasper, Texas, where he worked at a variety of jobs, all of which involved, in some way, mechanical work — something he loved and at which he excelled. Tommy eventually retired from the Jasper County Transportation Dept, and he and Mary moved to the Vidor area to be near their younger daughter, Colleen, and their two grandchildren Alexandra and Blake. Tommy and Mary had been married for 51 years when Mary passed away in Sept 2012.

Tommy married Nancy King, who he met on a trip with his church, Pine Forest Baptist in Vidor, in 2016.

Tommy loved taking apart anything mechanical, fixing them and putting them back together, and he was a genius with a mechanical lathe and hydraulics. He was the one everybody called if they had something with an engine that needed to be fixed. He served on the transportation committee at Pine Forest Baptist and during retirement worked at Audilet Tractor in Beaumont. He also took up woodworking and furniture building.

Tommy loved airplanes, trains, tractors and automobiles, but mostly airplanes. He was a licensed private pilot and owned his own airplanes at two different times during his long life. He loved to fly, but hated flying on commercial airlines, saying he would rather drive than fly on a commercial plane because when you were driving, you could stop and look at everything that caught your attention.  Tommy and Mary loved to travel with friends, and after Mary’s death, Tommy continued to share his love of traveling with Nancy. 

Tommy also loved to dance, and he and Mary were avid square dancers. But more than anything, Tommy Almond loved his children, his grandchildren and his great-granddaughter, who was born on his birthday in 2020.

Tommy Almond was preceded in death by his parents, Thelma Angeline Alexander and James Henry Almond; by his son, Thomas James Almond Jr., and by his wife of 51 years, Mary Blanche Marburger Almond.

He is survived by his loving wife, Nancy King Almond, of Orange; his daughters, Cindy Almond of Fort Worth and Colleen Bruce and her husband, Bill, of Orange; his grandchildren, Alexandra Saucier and her boyfriend, Hunter Terrell, of Port Arthur, and Blake Saucier of Orange; his great-granddaughter, Emma Blake Terrell; his sister, Wamoth Kay Spicer of Las Vegas, N.M.; his nephew, Jim Spicer, and wife, Katherine, of Bennett, CO; his niece Denise Spicer of Las Vegas, N.M.; a stepdaughter Amy Wagner and husband Dennis and step-grandchildren Laura and Kate.

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