Obituary

Thomas A. Stogsdill was born June 22, 1933 in Missouri, child of James Wesley Stogsdill and Anna Augusta Stogsdill. He passed away peacefully on April 28, 2016.

He will be met in heaven not only by his mom and dad, but by his siblings (in order from oldest): William B. Stogsdill, Anzell E. Rothe, Wilbert D. Stogsdill, Alma Nadine Stogsdill (died in 1924), and Vursa Leah VanBuskirk. Survived by his last remaining sibling, sister Anna Marie Benson, 1929, 87 years of age. Further survived by his children, Brent Alan Stogsdill, Phillip Wayne Stogsdill, and Lisa Annette Stogsdill-Roquemore, and his extensive family of nieces and nephews.

Thomas retired at 55 from Naval Weapon Center, China Lake where he worked as an engineer for the Department of Defense, he retired to pursue sailing and traveling with his best and dear friend Linda Finco.

He loved to fly, hike, mountain climb, scuba, travel, sail, and live in La Paz. He was a long time member of the China Lake Mountain Rescue team.

He loved to cook and was always trying to figure out how ‘mom’ made certain things. He made a cookbook from newspaper recipes and tried something new all the time.

Thomas taught his children to be independent and to take responsibility for their own actions. He was a mixture of Frank Sinatra ‘I did it my way.’ and “It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.’

Dad’s motto/philosophy: ‘Live life to the fullest.’ He often said, ‘You only pass this way once.’ and ‘No second chances.’

Dad was a happy soul… No regrets, except he would have liked that last glass of wine…

Please view the video at www.youtube.com/embed/e-y581HdWfY?rel=0. It was very special to Thomas and his daughter Lisa.