Thomas P. "Tommy" HARWOOD Jr.

HARWOOD, Thomas P. Jr. "Tommy", age 80, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., formerly of Richmond, Va., died on September 27. He was a retired judge of the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), where he served actively for 19 years from 1973 to 1992. Prior to his election to the SCC, Judge Harwood served nine years as a member of the Industrial Commission (now the Workers Compensation Commission) of Virginia. Tommy was born in Green Bank, West Va., and grew up in Crewe and Saluda, Va. He graduated in 1950 from the Virginia Military Institute, where he was a member of the Class of 1950B. He was a Distinguished Military Graduate, recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, and four-year monogram winner in baseball as a pitcher. He entered the Army in June 1950 and served on active duty through August 1953. An infantry platoon leader in the 7th Cavalry Regiment, he was wounded in October 1951 and hospitalized until May 1952. Judge Harwood entered the University of Virginia School of Law in 1953. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Virginia Law Review, Chairman of the University Judiciary Committee, and Chancellor of Sigma Nu Phi Legal Fraternity. His fraternities include Kappa Alpha Order, ODK, and Sigma Nu Phi. Tommy was an elder in the Presbyterian Church for 49 years, a former moderator of the Hanover Presbytery, and a former member of the Richmond Salvation Army Advisory Board. A judicial member of the Bar Association of the City of Richmond, Virginia State Bar, and Virginia Bar Association, Judge Harwood served as president of two regulatory conferences and as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Regulatory Institute at Ohio State University, which he chaired from 1990 to 1992. He and his wife, Mary Virginia, were married for 53 years, and Tommy said each one got better. He is survived by Mary Virginia; daughter, Sally; son Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth, son, Hunter and his wife, Susan; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Services will be held at Crestwood Presbyterian Church, 6627 Jahnke Road, Saturday October 3 at 2:30 p.m. Tommy requested in lieu of flowers, contributions be made to The VMI Foundation, Neikirk Hall, Lexington, Va. 24450; First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301-2397 or Crestwood Presbyterian Church, 6627 Jahnke Road, Richmond, Virginia 23225-4118.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.