Thomas Hamilton Mosley

Thomas Hamilton Mosley

Shreveport - Thomas (Tommy) Hamilton Mosley, beloved husband, father, grandfather and friend passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, February 25, 2021 from heart problems. He will be dearly missed by his family and friends.

Visitation will be held at Saint James Episcopal Church 2050 Bert Kouns, Shreveport, LA from 10 until 11 a.m. on March 3, 2021 immediately followed by funeral services at the church. Covid regulations will be in effect with masks and social distancing. Officiating will be the Reverend W. James Yazell assisted by Deacon Lois Maberry. The burial will take place later that day at Macedonia Cemetery in Claiborne Parish.

Tommy was the son of Gordie Hamilton Mosley and W. Herbert Mosley and was born on August 12, 1936 in Oil City, LA in the family home. His father was a railway conductor and Oil City was a main stop. He attended Werner Park Elementary, Lake Shore Jr. High and Fair Park High School. While at Fair Park he was a First Lieutenant in the ROTC and played saxophone in the Military Marching Band. As a boy and a young man, Tommy held various jobs: delivering newspapers, selling shoes in downtown Shreveport and working for the Louisiana Dept. of Highways while in college. Tommy took piano lessons for many years as a child and took up the piano again in his adult years. He had a great love for all kinds of music and played quite professionally. He was the family accompanist when we gathered on Christmas Eve to sing carols.

Tommy attended Louisiana Tech where he majored in Civil Engineering, graduating in 1959 with a degree, a wife and a child on the way. He took a position with the Louisiana State Highway Department as a Senior Engineer and was able to work in Lincoln and Union parishes while Mattie finished her degree.

On September 4, 1958, he and Mattie Lee Jacks were married in the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Ruston, LA and were married for over 62 years. Their son, Thomas Hamilton Mosley, Jr. was born on October 6, 1959 in Ruston. After Mattie's graduation in January 1961, they moved to Baton Rouge where Mattie had been awarded a scholarship to obtain her Master of Library Science degree at LSU. Tommy remained with the highway department but was now working with the Bridge Design Division. In late 1962, the three moved to Shreveport where he became a Senior Road Construction Engineer out of the Shreveport office. In 1965 he was offered a position with the Minden Construction Co. so the family moved to Minden with Tommy. Jr. entering first grade and Mattie teaching at Minden High School. The company closed down, but Tommy was again sought after by the Netherton Construction Co. in Shreveport. They had received the bid to do the construction work for the Western Electric Co. which was just settling in Shreveport in 1967. Netherton needed a top notch engineer for the project and luckily for them, Tommy was available. That same year Mattie took a position with the brand new LSU in Shreveport. Again they moved to Shreveport, bought their first house, and Tommy, Jr. entered fourth grade.

In 1970, Tommy and Charles Davis went into business together with the formation of Alpha Construction Co. which was in business for 25 years before dissolving. Tommy had inherited heart problems and had to have open heart surgery in 1986 so he decided to retire from the construction world.

In 1975, much to his and Mattie's surprise and joy, a second son was born on May 23. Christopher Jacks Mosley joined the Mosley family.

While he was in business, Tommy became very active in the Louisiana chapter of the American General Contractors Association (AGC), serving on the board, numerous committees and becoming President in 1983. Through the years he and Mattie attended many AGC conferences in far-flung places such as Acapulco, Mexico and San Juan, Puerto Rico. After retirement he was still asked to serve the AGC in various capacities and was always honored as a past president.

Tommy had always wanted to be a pilot but was too tall to pass the height test for the military. He took private lessons and scored at 100 percent on the written test. In passing the flying test he had his shirt nailed to the airplane hangar, a popular custom. He went on to take aerobatic lessons with Marion Cole, a well known pilot in the area. One of the rewards of owning your own company was airplane ownership which Alpha did, and so Tommy was able to fulfill his boyhood dream of flying his own plane.

His favorite hobby was fishing, especially for bass. Owning a camp on Toledo Bend, going out on the lake, catching and frying fish, and visiting with friends were good days. He also enjoyed going duck hunting with friends in south Louisiana.

After retirement, he worked on any number of household projects and bought a computer. Self taught, with the help of his son, Tommy became quite proficient in using the computer: email, Google, Office, the stock market and most especially games.

After Mattie retired from LSUS, Tommy and she were able to travel extensively all over the US as well as overseas to England, France, Turkey, Italy as well as taking a number of cruises in the Caribbean, up the Eastern seaboard into Canada, Alaska, the Mediterranean and even a river cruise on the Danube in Germany, Austria and Hungary. Tommy enjoyed meeting folks from all over the world on these adventures. And people loved to talk to him, a tall good looking man with a pleasant Southern drawl, though most assumed he was from Texas, not Louisiana. His favorite trips however; were those to Gulf Shores, Alabama, with the children and grandchildren.

He assuredly was always a gentleman and liked by all; in fact, Mattie said he was the most polite boy she had ever dated with lovely manners. She thanked his mother for that.

Tommy had been baptized in the Methodist Church but joined the Episcopal Church as an adult. He was a faithful parishioner of St. James Episcopal Church in Shreveport for over 50 years. He served on the vestry, including one year as Senior Warden and many years as church treasurer, even becoming treasurer emeritus. He became especially interested in the life and letters of St. Paul, and he and Mattie developed a series of lectures on Paul, even talking to other churches on the subject. He was able to visit the Church of St. Paul in Rome where the bones of the saint are supposedly buried. He was generous to his church but also to many charitable organizations as well as to individuals who needed assistance. He deeply felt that was his responsibility as a Christian.

The best events occurring after retirement were the births of grandchildren. Matthew Clayton Mosley was born to son Tommy and his wife Emily on December 18, 1993. Caroline Blaine Mosley was born to son Chris and wife Lori on March 16, 2005 and Sarah Saye Mosley was born on December 1, 2007. The last years have largely been spent going to visit the smart and talented grands in Mississippi and attending their school plays and award ceremonies.

Tommy was preceded in death by his parents: W. Herbert and Gordie Hamilton Mosley, his sister Carol Ann Pleasant, beloved aunts and uncles and many friends all of whom he missed greatly.

Tommy, Dad, Big T, Big Daddy is survived by his loving wife Mattie Lee; his son Thomas, Jr. and wife, Emily; his son Christopher and wife, Lori; his grandson, Matthew and granddaughters, Caroline and Sarah Mosley. He is also survived by his niece Christy and his nephew Joey and their children and first cousins Anne Roth, Susan Martucci and Tom Hamilton.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7