Thomas Jolls

Memorial for
Thomas Michael Jolls
5/24/1960 – 11/8/2024
Tom was born on May 24, 1960, at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Theodore Martin Jolls and Barbara Joan Jolls adopted tom when he was about 6 months old.
Tom loved his brother, Tim; they would talk a couple of times a week & stay connected with each other very well.
They grew up in Sylmar and Burbank, California, where Tom met some good friends, as Tom had always been known as a "Social Butterfly" and made friends everywhere he went throughout his whole lifetime.
Tom's long-time best friends are Andre Morel (they talked a lot about guns, bullets & football), Ed Scott & his wife Christi (they liked talking about guns, bullets & political things.), Tammy Hansen (who is the most down to earth person & Tom loved her so much) and Mike Beckley- who is a Vietnam Vet who proudly served our country.
Growing up, Tom was the typical all-American boy, who loved baseball, football, dirt bikes and skateboards.
Tom discovered his favorite football team at an early age, known as the Los Angeles Rams and stayed committed to them until his last day. Of course, after a game loss I would say "Toooooommmm" like a lamb's cry since his team are the Rams. LOL.
Tom's career was a Glazier, glass man. He installed commercial & residential windows, screens, mirrors, and shower doors.
Funny thought: Every time we saw a glass truck Tom would always say "Glass Whore." I know, I know, but that is our Tom. LOL.
Tom always had such a profound sense of humor and was such a funny-funny man. Tom had a heart of gold for people & animals and would give his left arm and/or right arm or anything anybody ever needed. Tom was extremely generous and very compassionate.
Tom's brother Tim & his wife at the time, Laura Jolls, had 2-Girls, Kelly Jolls-Haimof and Heather Jolls-Smith. Uncle Tom loved his Niece's with all his heart & soul, and he was immensely proud of them both. Uncle Tom was so good with staying in contact with both and in the later years Tom would tell them "Talk to ya later kid."
Tom loved Laura Jolls, our Niece's mother. They grew up together and had several fond memories and great conversations.
Tom loved the Military, especially the Army. Tom did join the Army on 5/14/1979 to 6/5/1980. Tom wanted to stay in and complete his term, but with unfortunate circumstances that were out of his control, it just could not happen for him. Tom loved being an Air Borne Ranger during that time, he even put an Air Borne Ranger tattoo on his left arm. On his right back shoulder blade, he put another tattoo of the American Flag, Bald Eagle & Rifle Gun all in one, around the same time.
Tom was always very-very much into his guns & bullets, as anyone could honestly tell you, that knew him.
He also loved archery, as he did when he lived in Oregon for almost 6-years, and we even joined an Archer's Club in Tujunga after we were married.
Tom loved & totally respected my sister, Cindy Alexander-Baker, as she served 24 years in the Air Force & Tom was so proud of her, since he loved the Military. Tom loved the conversations he had with Cindy and her daughter, our other Niece, Tabitha Wallace.
Uncle Tom always loved it when Tabby came to see us once a year in Mendon, Utah and she got to ride our horse- Brown-Eyes and we took her to various functions in Cache Valley, Utah. Uncle Tom adored Tabby and loved her with all his Heart & Soul.
Sidenote: Tom & I loved buckin' hay in Paradise, Utah where we got it, and he knew I always loved the smell of it. Every summer we stocked up on hay & firewood for the pot-stove he installed in the garage and the one we had downstairs and for the fireplace upstairs. Tom was always great at stocking up on things, especially bullets. LOL.
Thomas Michael Jolls and Wendy Alexander met on 4/19/92, Easter day at her mom's house in Porter Ranch, Northridge, California. At that Easter dinner, he had put his face into the mashed potatoes, which became a standing Holiday joke. LOL.
We were married on 6/18/1994 at Burbank First United Methodist Church in Burbank, CA by Larry Stamper, his childhood pastor. We had our honeymoon in Carlsbad, CA at Ocean Manor Hotel, where our room came right out onto the beach. It was so beautiful.
Our love grew stronger for each other throughout the years and of course, we had a-lot of ups & downs, but what marriage does not. We were married for 30+ years, with so many adventures together and had so much in common. We both loved camping, fishing, astronomy- looking out of his different telescopes that he had, practice gun shooting & archery. I must add Tom loved his trucks.
Funny tidbit: Tom would call me "Broken Arrow" because of breaking the arrows a-lot. LOL.
We moved to Tujunga, CA right after our honeymoon & had good times with Caren & Michael Slattery, such good friends.
3-years later we purchased a Condo in Anaheim, CA, and 4-years after that purchased our first home in Corona, CA. There we had his 1989 Foxtail Harley with a custom-made paint job of screaming eagles, bobcat at the rear for me and an American flag on the gas tank & little hogs on the spokes. We both loved going to Tom's farm on it every Sunday to get our fresh blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Tom really loved my cousin Paul, who was born the same year as Tom. Tom had good times with my Uncle Johnny, who was Paul's Dad and who we bought the Harley from, as he was an enthusiast with Harleys.
On June 18, 2004, we renewed our vows in Las Vegas, where Mom & Dad, Jennifer & her son David came to see us celebrate our 10-year Wedding Anniversary.
Tom & I visited Washington D.C. in June of 2005, and we saw so many museums, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, the U.S. Capitol, Jefferson Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and so much more.
Tom & I would share, quite often, the memories we made of that trip. Tom was so proud to see all that we were able to see there.
On 11/9/2005 we packed up, left California, and moved to Mendon, Utah, in Cache Valley, where we had our two horses, chickens, ducks, dogs, and various cats.
Tom loved his hunting up there and managed to get himself a buck. We had good times up there with the four seasons, our Mendon Fishing Hole, camping in our trailer in the beautiful canyons of Cache Valley & Yellowstone, snowmobiling and all the friends we made there.
Funny sidenote: Tom had a snow blower & at times he would shoot the snow at him & I would be laughing so hard because he looked like a walking snowman. LOL.
Thanks to my best friend, Jennifer Custer & her husband Dave Custer, my best friend since the first day of Granada Hills High School, for introducing us to Cache Valley.
We had many awesome times in Cache Valley with Jennifer, Dave, her son David Bernal & then wife Andelin, Kevin & later Phil with horseback riding & B-B-Qing & fun times watching the Superbowl's. And later with David's current girlfriend, Erin. Tom loved David so. Tom loved giving advice to David on so many things. We all had amazing times together up there.
Tom also loved Ann so much & vice versa, Jen's mom who currently lives in Las Vegas and he loved her as a third mom. He also loved Krissy, Bri', Kimmie, Jason, and Clifford.
We had so much fun visiting Jen & Dave and David & Andelin & Erin, Darah & Ali, and Phil when they moved from Cache Valley to Bozeman, Montana, those were Great trips there.
We met Karen, Chris and their two boys, Carson and Jake, in Cache Valley. We had such fun times together. Tom loved to practice shooting with the boys and all the B-B-Q's & bonfires we had with them all. And Halloween time and baby animal days with Karen & the boys. Karen & Chris are like a sister & brother to us.
Tom made tons of friends in Cache Valley, Utah such as Rick & Marc' and Tator, who took Tom hunting.
2007 Puerto Vallarta trip-Dad arranged a surprise trip for Tom and I to surprise Mom for her 60th birthday. And boy was she surprised, and so happy to see us. She cried tears of joy. That was such a great trip, we all had an amazing time together.
From there we moved to Golden Valley, Arizona, on 9/1/2014 to finally be closer again to Mom & Dad, Maureen & David Warkentine, where they then lived in Laughlin, Nevada. Tom loved them both, like his second set of parents and had so many good times together. We all sailed on Captain Dad's boat in California in earlier years. And when we lived in Mendon Utah, Tom & Dad got in some good Pheasant Hunting. And we all had a wonderful time camping in our trailers at Bryce Canyon and Yellowstone.
So, Mom had a bakery back in the day called Mrs. Tidbit's Bakery.
A-little Tidbit: Tom absolutely loved Mom's Sacher Torte cake from her bakery.
Tom's name for it was called "French Pig Cake" and he would devour it. LOL.
Another thing we used to call Tom was "Trying Tom". LOL The only reason why that was his nickname is how hard he really tried.
Funny Story: When Mom would call Tom, she would start out saying "Tom this is your Mother-In-Law." with a twang. Was so Funny. LOL. Tom absolutely loved all the many-many conversations with Mom and Dad. They got along so well; it was truly a blessing.
My other best friends, Shelley & Anthony, and their 5-kids: Daniel, Amber, Ashley, Adam (Mini-Me to Tom) and Abby. I met Shelley & Anthony years before Tom & when Tom came into the picture, Shelley & Tom got along so well and had so many good conversations & laughs together. We both loved all the visits they made to us here in Golden Valley, as they made a way to come out of their way from their California trips back to Montana and we appreciated that so much. On the latest trip this year, Shelley & Anthony treated us to Cracker Barrel for our 30-year Wedding Anniversary. Tom loved that.
In our last adventure to California together, we saw his brother Tim & his new wife Gigi, who is the sweetest and most adorable lady.
We stayed with my cousin Paul & his girlfriend Eileen and had a-lot of catch-up, which was much needed.
The next day we spent quality time together with Laura Jolls, Kelly & her 5-kids: Benjamin, Asher, Judah, Ezra & Esther. We missed Ami, Kelly's husband, and Heather & her husband Isaac and their two kids: Caleb & Betsy. Tom was so happy to see Kelly, Laura & the kids- that was such an enjoyable day for Uncle Tom.
From there we went to Oceanside to see my other best friend, who I have known since I was 8 years old, Ange & her wife Maggie. They are the most down-to-earth, friendliest and provide us with so much hospitality, as always, we just had an amazing time together. Tom loved his talks with Ange and with Maggie and loved their little fur-babies.
We also had lunch with my half-sister Melody, who met up with us in Oceanside. The three of us had an amazing time together.
Tom's last adventure out of state was with Mom & Dad and Aunt Sandy & Uncle Larry. Tom had such a wonderful time with them all and had many laughs & impressive conversations. Tom loved Aunt Sandy & Uncle Larry and loved Aunt Sandy's sense of humor since they both have that.
We loved all our animals that we had shared together over all those years, and they were all treated like our kids, since I could not have children. We loved Minkos, Tiggra, Boo-Boo, Pumpkin, Candi, Cosmo, Noah, and Misty Mae as the Kitties. And Teddy, Shammy, Francis, Misha, Trudy & Riley as the dogs. And Special-Girl, aka Brown-Eyes & Storm as the Horses. And Daisy Daffodil & Little Johnny Black Foot as our ducks, which Tabby named Daisy Daffodil. And our Tortoise who we call Gamera, aka Gam-Gam. Tom was so good with all the animals, and they all loved him so much.
We celebrated our 30-year wedding anniversary on 6/18/24 at the Grand Canyon, as Tom wanted to go there as his choice and we had so much fun having breakfast in Williams, Arizona, and then off to the Canyon.
Tom will be missed so very-extremely much from myself, and I know he will be dearly missed by all our families, friends, and neighbors, such as Debra & Freddie.
Also, Tom loved talking with Abby, my other Best Friend, over the phone, he found her hilarious, and they had many laughs.
Tom fought a long-time illness of COPD, which unfortunately took his life. Tom had always loved to work hard & play hard, which he dearly paid for at the end.
Tom was the friendliest, most gracious and loved us all with all his heart & soul and had a profound sense of Humor.
And I must add, Tom was so knowledgeable. Mom would call him a "Walking Encyclopedia."
Tom, I am going to miss you putting y lunch box in my car, opening our gate, and blowing me kisses before I go to work, and when I arrive home from work, you would have the gate open for me, doing a wave to me, and I would give you a wave back according to how my day went. I am so going to miss that.
Also, I miss our talks we would share together, whether it was on the back porch, front porch, or especially our side patio where you and I did our last big project together, last year.
So, my Tom, my one & only, my forever love, my Husband, I love you so very much & I always will with all my heart & soul.
I will always cherish all the memories & great times we have made together over the years with each other and with our Family's & Friend's.
I love you to the moon & back, to all the stars in the sky & back, to infinity and will also in the afterlife.
I will see you again on the other side, my Sweetheart, I know you will be waiting with open arms & many kisses.
I love you, my Tom.
"Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen."
"Almighty God, we rejoice in your promise of love, joy and peace. In your mercy turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life, and the sorrow of parting into the Joy of Heaven. Amen."