Thomas J. Pickerel

1934 - 2019

Thomas J. Pickerel
Tom Pickerel passed away peacefully on August 10, 2019. Tom was born on February 16, 1934, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Archibald and Mary Pickerel. In the late 1940s, Tom and many of his seven siblings moved from St. Joseph to Spokane, Washington, where Tom attended and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1952.
After serving in the Korean War, Tom worked at Boeing in Seattle, Washington. He then attended Eastern Washington University (EWU) in 1961 via the GI Bill. He met and married his classmate Cheryl Hughes in 1963. After he graduated from EWU, they moved to Richland, Washington, where they had twin daughters, Julie and Joanne.
In 1968, the family moved to Ellensburg, Washington, and their son Mark was born soon after. Tom took a position as the City Planner and later transitioned to County Planner. Tom worked hard to preserve a defining line separating residential zoning from rural/agricultural and commercial zoning. He was proud to have successfully protected both the beauty and valuable function of the county's farmlands from urban sprawl.
In Ellensburg, Tom's lifelong hobby of art and illustration blossomed into a long and successful career. His prolificacy reflected his fascination and love of the Northwest's natural beauty, man-made dwellings,and historic landmarks. His unique talent revealed the largely overlooked beauty of a barn in decay or the subtle, nostalgic value of a dilapidated car in the weeds.
His images have become synonymous with life in Kittitas County, and the Ellensburg Rodeo still uses many of his images. His work has come to literally represent Ellensburg-he created the City of Ellensburg's iconic logo that graces official letterhead, city trucks, and park signs.
Tom married Carol Pickerel in 1979, joining together their families and adopting Carol's children: Pam, Tyler, and Megan. He was preceded in death by his wife Carol, who was the family organizer and matriarch. They enjoyed 39 years of marriage. As active members of Mercer Creek Church, they both devoted countless hours to mission-based volunteer work, both at home and in South America. Locally, Tom volunteered at his church and at Park Creek Boys Home.
In recent months, Tom was remarried to Margie Hurt, who shared his love of God and family.
In addition to his thousands of pen and ink drawings, Tom was well known for his witty, dry sense of humor and his constant bird-like whistling.
Pickerel's biggest source of pride was his family. He is survived by his wife Margie and by his children Pam (Jeff) Pearson, Julie Pickerel-Graham, Joanne (Tim) Perkins, Tyler (Lori) Lanham, Mark (Keely) Pickerel, and Megan (Herman) Pickerel-Winer. He was an amazing grandfather to ten grandchildren: Tyson (Amanda) Pickerel, Zach Schreiber, Teal (Brandon) Womac, Katelyn (Collin) May, Brett Williams, Kass Hoffman, Maxfield Winer, Charles Ciaramitaro, and Hazel and Rose Pickerel. The recent addition of two great-grandchildren, Naomi and Steven Pickerel, brought him so much joy.
Tom leaves a legacy of love in the family he and Carol brought together over 40 years ago. The family would like to thank Tom and Carol's close-knit circle of longtime friends for their love and countless prayers.
Tom Pickerel's passing leaves a hole in the hearts of his family, and his passing will be a tremendous loss to his town, his church, and a community of artists and art enthusiasts, whom he loved greatly. A celebration of his life will be held at Mercer Creek Church on Friday, August 16 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations to World Vision are appreciated.