Thomas Charles Hensler

Beloved, and a little scary, oldest brother Dr. Thomas Hensler passed on October 13, 2024. He was at peace and pain free, surrounded by family members, who rolled their eyeballs and wished God well.
Never one to try being other than just Tom Hensler, he was loved by family, many classmates, fellow dentists, wine lovers, card players, campers, and the Buckeroos. Tom had a practice of keeping in touch with many, many people, his retirement days filled with phone calls and well wishes. He also spoke with some of the world's greatest conversationalists.
Tom played tennis in high school and college, and golf in his adult years. He loved watching tennis and golf on TV and would often wake up in the wee hours of the morning to catch tournaments in Europe, as well as make sure that his younger brother was awake watching, too.
Working during college, Tom went to sea on Sause tugs. In addition to his thrills chipping paint and sitting in the hot gages room monitoring the tug engines, Tom particularly liked shore leave in Long Beach and in Hawaii. There were occasions of emergency exits, not from the tug but from dockside bars.
One of Tom's avocations was the study of Native American history. He was very knowledgeable of the cultures, particularly western Native American cultures. He made several trips to the Southwest to visit the Navajo and Hopi nations, often taking friends or family along with him.
Tom graduated in Geology from Oregon State University then turned his excavation desires inward graduating as a dentist from the University of Oregon Dental School. After dental school, Tom joined the US Army where he served with distinction at Fort Eustis by perpetually annoying his dental commanding officer by practicing excellent dentistry and at the end of the day walking out the back door with his officer's jacket unbuttoned. Tom was challenged in perfecting the Army salute, but he did pass rifle training.
Upon completing his Army service, Tom moved to Albany, Oregon where he set up his dental practice of over 25 years. He sought perfection in dentistry. He was instrumental in forming a mid-Valley dental group for the purpose of meeting and exchanging ideas for improving dentistry, as well as increasing the group's wine knowledge, a great deal of wine knowledge.
Tom is preceded in death by his parents, Tom and Betty, sister Mary, brothers Steve and John. He is survived by sister Judy and husband Tim, brother Pat, and brother Doug and wife Janie, along with several nieces and nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews.
Rest in Peace, T. We miss you and we love you!
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