Thomas J. Bickerstaff

Thomas James Bickerstaff, 62, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 with his family by his side. Tom was born on June 26, 1951 in Queens N.Y, to Jeanne and John Bickerstaff. In 1969, Tom enlisted in the U.S. Navy; he served on the USS Barry until being honorably discharged in 1973. While on the Barry, Tom traveled to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and the Caribbean, and crossed both the Equator and the Arctic Circle. After his military service, Tom worked as a rigger, moving and installing some of the biggest mechanical equipment in New England. Tom loved his community and his hobbies. He was an expert woodworker, an avid fisherman, coached and fundraised for the Plymouth, Mass. Little League, and was a quick convert to the Red Sox nation after initially moving to Massachusetts from New York. Tom was a devoted husband and father and is survived by many loved ones: his son, Kevin Bickerstaff, his wife Ashleigh, and their two sons, Patrick and Myles, of Cumberland, R.I.; his daughter Julie (Bickerstaff) Forster and her husband Eric, of Tucson, Ariz.; his brother Michael Bickerstaff and his wife Katrina, of Plymouth, Mass.; his sister Susan (Bickerstaff) Bolton, her husband Leonard, and their three daughters, of Plymouth, Mass.; and his parents, John and Jeanne Bickerstaff, of Plymouth, Mass. He is predeceased by his wife of 30 years, Patricia (Costello) Bickerstaff. Visiting hours in the Cartmell Funeral Home, 150 Court St., Plymouth on Wednesday, Jan. 17, from 5 - 7 p.m. Internment will be at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne on Friday at 2:15 p.m. Donations in Toms memory may be made to the Cranberry Hospice, Inc. 36 Cordage Park Circle, Suite 326, Plymouth, MA 02360, or to the Wounded Warriors Project at http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/. For online guest book please visit: www.cartmellfuneralhome.com.