Thomas Raymond McCracken

1948 - 2022

Thomas McCracken went to his eternal rest January 11, 2022. Tom was born in Yankton, South Dakota on January 30, 1948 to Clyde and Jane McCracken. He grew up in South Rome, Illinois and attended Rome Grade School and Chillicothe High School. He continued his education at the University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana, where he earned a B.S. in Animal Science.
Tom then served in the U.S. Army from March 1971 to December 1972 as a Sergeant in the Fire Direction Control Unit. After serving he continued his education at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale earning a M.S. Degree in Animal Nutrition.
Tom and his wife Karen (Salata) McCracken were married in 1967 and remarried again in 1971. They just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They moved to California in 1977 where Tom found his dream job in 1980 as President and General Manager of Gunter Bros. an animal feed mill and retail store in Morgan Hill, Ca. The two of them semi-retired in 1995 and opened a coffee shop in Lake Tahoe, Ca which they eventually moved to Sierra Vista, AZ and then officially retired in 2003.
They just recently moved back to California to make Oceanside their final home. Tom had always been an animal lover, in particular horses. He owned several of them along with a variety of other animals throughout his life. He had a passion for calf roping and in his younger days participated in professional rodeo as a hobby. He loved volunteering at the Santa Clara County Fair in San Jose, Ca and enjoyed working with the Live Oak High School FFA Scholarship Committee.
Tom is survived by his wife, Karen, and brother-in-law and sister-in-law, (Phillip and Cindy Salata) of Fort Myers, Fl.
No formal memorial services are planned. A scholarship is being established in his name at the Live Oak High School FFA Program in Morgan Hill, Ca.