Thomas Andrew Statum

Kill Devil Hills, NC - Thomas Andrew Statum was born on Tuesday, December 1, 1936, in Knoxville, TN, the second son of Benjamin Franklin and Margaret Anne Yates Statum. He was later part of what became a large family of three boys and three girls who grew up on Liberty Street in the small community of West View in Knoxville.

After attending Rule High School in Knoxville, Tom joined the U.S. Air Force and was stationed, among other places, in French Morocco. What a place for a young man to live after growing up in a basically all white middle class neighborhood in the U.S. He loved it! The country was mostly desert, with few cities and, luckily, no war. He had so many stories about his adventures there with other young men like himself who had never been outside the U.S.

After his stint in the Air Force, he wanted to learn more about everything. This desire led him to study and graduate from East Tennessee State University with a degree in History. With his degree in hand, he moved to the Washington, DC, area where he became an employee of the U.S. Department of the Navy and worked a full career to retirement there.

Long before there was Google, there was Tom Statum. He was a devotee of many disparate subjects. His first love was history, then politics, baseball, classical music and so much more. One could ask him such questions as why the Ottoman Empire broke apart and he could explain in depth the story of the Empire, its beginnings and end. He read voraciously. Before his last illness, his library contained hundreds of books and he had read all of them, some more than once. He also kept his keen interest in politics and was a proud Democrat.

Tom was a beacon for friends; sadly, most of his friends predeceased him. But his family members were friends as well and he enjoyed visiting with them along with his many in-laws. They would often gather in the summer, renting a large house on a beach on the Outer Banks of NC to enjoy each other's company and the raucous sounds made by so many different voices all talking at the same time. After a day at the beach and a dinner of local seafood, they continued the day with the sounds of music - singing, playing guitars and harmonica and laughing for hours. Tom didn't contribute to the music but made suggestions for certain pieces and loved being part of the audience.

After several years of illness with Alzheimer's, Tom's body and spirit gave out. He died peacefully and without pain in the early morning of Saturday, October 14, 2023, in Kill Devil Hills, NC, on the Outer Banks, a special place for him and his family.

In addition to his mother and father, four other members of Tom's immediate family are also deceased: William Franklin (Bill); Benita Anne Statum Blakely; Caroline Pearl Statum Dinerman; and James Allen (Jim). Tom leaves behind his wife of more than 20 years, Pamela Wayland and her son Philip Wayland. Also surviving is his daughter, Tina Michelle Statum of West Virginia, along with his sister, Mary Alice Statum Dahl of Georgia, as well as more than a dozen nieces and nephews.

To say that he will be missed is an understatement. Goodbye dear Pop and Brother.