THOMAS GORDON DERRICK

Thomas Gordon Derrick, 79, of New Holland, Pa., was ushered into the Presence of our Savior on Friday, August 22, 2025. He was the son of the late Gordon Emmitt Derrick and Marjorie Doris (Singer) Derrick.
Tom was born and raised in Reeders, Pa. - a small town in the Pocono Mountains. He was a great storyteller and lived a life filled with adventure. He had a beautiful singing voice and in his younger days ?was a drummer in a country band. In later years, he ?enjoyed using his gifts in church and with his son and friends in a Dixieland band.
Tom honorably served our country in the Vietnam War as a US Navy Seabee (Construction Battalion) where his pet - Suzy Squirrel Monkey - was always on his shoulder.
He married Rose, his dear wife of 52 years, and they helped establish a children's ministry at the Reeders United Methodist church. But the unquellable winds of his adventurous spirit blew, so he moved his young family to a one-room cabin (with no electric or running water) on a mountain top in Potter County (Shinglehouse), where he crafted a home for them with his own hands.
Tom was a "MacGyver" of sorts, who could engineer or repair anything, but worked tirelessly to provide for his family as a pipefitter / welder.
He followed in the footsteps of his grandmother, Edna Derrick Vanbuskirk, by doing prison ministry where he led several men to Christ. He also made ?multiple mission trips to the Communist country of Cuba and enjoyed being a part of the Christian Motorcycle Association. However, he was most proud and grateful for his family. They are most grateful that at 32 years of age, he changed the trajectory of their lives by surrendering his own to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ in whose very Presence he now rejoices.
Tom bravely endured, and ultimately passed on, as a result of multiple health complications from Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam. His loving and devoted wife's years of faithful care for him allowed him to spend his final moments at home with several family members by his side.
He is survived by his wife, Rose Carrie Flint Derrick; son, Shawn Flint Derrick (Linda Burns Derrick); daughter, Shelleen Sue (Derrick) Weaver (Thomas Weaver); grandchildren, Sierra Rose Gibble Husmann (Daniel Husmann), Savannah Helen Gibble, and Adrian Steele Weaver; his sister, Carol Derrick Woods; his Aunt Elvena (Singer) Price, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A private family funeral will be held, and he will be buried with honors at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests, and Tom would desire, that donations be sent to the Gideon Bible Society in his honor.
All praise be to our Lord that though our hearts ache, death has no hold or sting. We rejoice in the assurance that we will be reunited again.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Groff-High Funeral Home, New Holland.