Thomas Michael Conrad Sr.

Thomas Michael Conrad, Sr., age 83, of Tellico Village in Loudon, TN, died on the evening of January 17 in Lenoir City, TN, surrounded by family. Tom was born in Yeadon, PA, and was preceded in death by his loving wife of 56 years, Linda (Hudson) Conrad, and his parents, Henry and Ethel Marie Conrad of Collingdale, PA. He is survived by his three children, Melissa (Stephen) Pearce and grandchildren Georgia Pearce (James McCormick) and Hudson Pearce; Thomas M. (Lara) Conrad, Jr, and grandchildren Maxton and Chloe; and Susan (Randy) Weakley and grandchildren Kristen (Collin) Makohon and great-grandsons Arthur and Peter; Payton, Violet, Liana, and Liga Pavlovska Weakley.
Tom was the youngest of six children and was the fun, young uncle to several of his nieces and nephews growing up. He actively participated in many sports and activities during his school years, but sailing was his dearest love. Family summers spent in New Jersey featured many sailing races and card games and the start of his romance with his future wife. He enjoyed fishing with his father and tinkering with cars and other mechanical things and would often choose to have cold cereal for dinner rather than interrupt his outdoor activities to come home and eat at suppertime.
Tom graduated at the top of his class in Collingdale High School and earned his bachelor's degree (Geology) from Princeton University on a Navy scholarship. He graduated from college and was commissioned into the U.S. Navy as an ensign. That same week he married the love of his life, Linda Hudson, and departed for Navy training in St. Simons Island, GA. He was next stationed in Jacksonville, FL, and then deployed to the North Sea aboard the USS San Pablo, where he received news that his first daughter had been born stateside. His young family was later stationed in Norfolk, VA. His son was born in Fort Dix, NJ, and after four years of Vietnam-era service, Tom separated from the Navy as a lieutenant.
His first civilian job at Corning Glass Company brought him to a quiet little village (Horseheads) in upstate New York and filled the family's cupboards with CorningWare. He later moved to Thatcher Glass Company, and we became early recyclers, with three huge barrels in the garage to collect clear, brown, and green glass for hauling to the plant to be turned into cullet, a necessary component of glass production. We also collected the daily newspaper in huge bundles to be turned in for recycling, and I remember Dad doing everything he could to get the best price on gas for the car and keeping the thermostat low in the winter to conserve energy.
One of Tom's defining characteristics was his ability to fix pretty much everything. You can say someone built a life for themselves, but our dad also built the things you need to live your life. Our first home was new construction with an unfinished basement, but not for long. Dad put up some dividing walls and used wood paneling to create an office for himself and a rec room for the kids. He separated the dining area from the living room with a customized room divider and built a storage unit/couch for the rec room and a coffee table for the living room. Custom storage in the garage was the perfect place to hide all the Christmas presents (we later learned), and he didn't stop with the house – the yard included a swing set he built for us and a hardscaped flower garden he created for Mom. He even built his own lake canoe in the garage one winter. I don't know of a project that he was too intimidated to try. The family welcomed a second daughter while in this home, and things were rearranged to suit the larger family.
With a large backyard to play with, Tom brought in truckloads of topsoil and started a vegetable garden in the back corner. He put the compost pile near the tool shed he built on the other side of the yard. There wasn't enough output to start canning the harvest for winter, but the year the corn actually produced six ears, he yelled to Mom, "Get the water boiling, I'm getting ready to pick the corn and it's going straight into the pot!" Another experiment was growing potatoes in a barrel of compost – no digging required, he just dumped the barrel over and plucked the potatoes out of the dirt!
From our home, we would often see the Goodyear blimp heading off to the car races at Watkins Glen. Although Tom loved cars and enjoyed watching racing, when we went to Watkins Glen, it was to hike the state park in the Finger Lakes. Every time we would get to the dark stone tunnel along the path through the gorge, where you had to hold onto the railing and trust that your next step would be safe, Dad would be behind us doing a very convincing "Bwah ha ha ha ha" evil scientist laugh to give us a fright.
In order to afford a nice vacation for his young family, which rounded out with his youngest daughter, he rented a pop-up camper and we headed to nearby state parks. Once he was certain it wouldn't be a waste of funds, he took the family to the RV show at the fairgrounds and chose the camper that would be our holiday accommodation for many adventures, including Fort Wilderness at the brand-new Walt Disney World Resort. Many pennies were pinched to make that trip happen, but after years of watching the park take shape on the Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night, it was worth it.
There are so many examples of how Tom took a little and made it go a long way. He always had high expectations for himself, and he always looked for a need he could fill. He was working with a Boy Scout troop before his son was old enough to participate. He served in many capacities at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Horseheads and even built the benches for the outdoor meditation garden that were still being used in 2019. He'd taken art classes in college, and was fairly deft with a drawing pencil, and he played guitar when he was young, although he didn't keep up with it when he had a family to raise. However, he did sing in the church choir for years and always enjoyed music.
In the mid-1970s, Tom followed an opportunity to begin a job with Chattanooga Glass Company. He moved to Chattanooga, TN, to begin his job for a few months before the family followed him, and used his motorcycle for transportation instead of a car to save money. The December day we moved into the new house in Hixson, TN, there were snow flurries, which were highly unusual at the time. One of the attractions of that neighborhood was its location near Chickamauga Lake. It enabled Tom to have a place to sail his Hobie Cat, and later a bigger sailboat with a cabin which he docked at Privateer Yacht Club. He participated in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and often crewed for a friend during regattas. He was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hixson, where he ushered, sang in the choir, and served on church council.
As his children went to college, graduated, married and scattered, Tom and Linda traveled to football tailgate parties, ceremonies, and a variety of family events. He enjoyed his great-nephew's graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, where many of his family members gathered for events, as well as several family weddings across the country. When it was time to dance, Tom and Linda's jitterbug blew people away!
After working for years in the glass industry, Tom moved to Tellico Village in Loudon, TN, and worked with engineering companies in a variety of environmental protection roles. When he and Linda became grandparents, they hosted the family for a week's vacation in Key Largo, FL, at a sailing camp. They got their hands on their baby granddaughters, and everyone got to go sailing – it was probably the closest he came to heaven on earth. He and Linda were active members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Vonore, TN, where he undertook several maintenance projects on the historic worship building.
In Tellico Village, he was again within walking distance of a lake, and had a couple of boats so he could take Linda and the grandkids out on the lake. He enjoyed putting on his walking shoes and his ball cap and heading out to do get his heart pumping and did miles and miles of walking to stay healthy. He retired from Bechtel-Jacobs in Oak Ridge as a Certified Environmental Manager.
Through all of his adventures, there was almost always a dog in the household. From a purebred Bassett hound to a wirehaired terrier to a miniature dachshund, a cockapoo and a beagle/terrier mix, there was usually a canine friend to lick the residue from Tom's nightly bowl of ice cream.
Tom and Linda's traveling and adventures were cut short when Linda had a health crisis that limited her mobility. Tom proceeded to pursue every avenue to ensure the best possible care to support her in their home for as long as possible. The level of devotion Tom showed to his beloved wife was beyond anything we had ever witnessed. When they were eventually parted by her death, Tom visited family and made plans to stay busy, meeting people at the Tellico Village recreation center and playing lots of Hand and Foot card games with new friends. He was always looking for ways to help other people by including them in activities.
When it was time for Dad to live more communally, he lived with his son and his family, enjoying time with his youngest grandchildren and their canine companions. He experienced the joy of meeting both of his great-grandsons and was thrilled to see the next generation. He later moved to a senior living community to have access to another level of social interaction, and he enjoyed holiday visits from nearly every member of his family before his final health crisis. As the youngest member of his large family, he was the last of his siblings surviving. His loss is keenly felt as his generation has departed.
Everyone who cared for Tom showed great compassion not only for him but also for us, his family, as we navigated this final journey with him. We sincerely thank everyone who has been so kind and helpful.
A funeral service will be held Saturday, January 25 at 12:00 pm at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Vonore, TN. Interment with his beloved wife, Linda, will be private in Chattanooga National Cemetery.