Joseph Thoms

THOMS

WAVERLY - Joseph I. Thoms, 91, of Skyline Dr., Waverly, died Saturday, October 12, 2013, at the Adena Regional Medical Center, Chillicothe, Ohio. He was born on May 29, 1922, in Huntington, WV to the late Oscar W. and Nellie Irene Puckett Thoms.

He was united in marriage on July 14, 1947, to Dorothy Wright Thoms who survives. Also Surviving are two sons, Greg W. Thoms and Joseph A. Thoms, both of Waverly; one sister, Nancy Long of Bryson City, NC; sister-in-law, Shirley W. Poteet of St. Jo, TX; nieces, Linda Percy of Ocala FL, Carolyn Crabtree of Oklahoma City, OK; and a nephew, Chris Poteet of Boston, MA.

Mr. Thoms was a graduate of the University Alabama with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and was retired from the former Goodyear Atomic Corp. He served in the U.S. Navy as a night fighter pilot during WWII participating in the battle for Okinawa and strikes against the Japanese mainland. He returned to combat operations again during the Korean Conflict. He served aboard the USS Enterprise and the USS Essex, and was a Naval Test Pilot at the Pawtuxent River Naval Base in Maryland for two years. He was chosen out of an elite group pilots to test the first fighter jet for the U.S. Navy, was an avid golfer and music lover, and was a member of the Elks Country Club in Portsmouth.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Botkin Funeral Home in Waverly with David Burriss officiating. Burial will follow in the Scioto Burial Park with Military Graveside services conducted by American Legion Merritt Post #142 of Waverly. Friends may call on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. at the funeral home.

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