Thomas G. Pesek Ph.D.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Thomas George Pesek, age 83, of Omaha, Nebraska. He died in peace on June 25, 2022, preceded by his brother Joseph Pesek II and his parents Joseph and Josephine Pesek of Omaha, Nebraska.

A scholar of East European History, Tom held a tenured position and taught eager young minds for almost 40 years at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington after having completed his doctorate at Indiana University in Bloomington. In his students, Tom instilled a love of culture, language and history of his beloved ancestry of the Czech Republic and it’s surrounding countries. Tom enjoyed tending to his cherry trees in annual preparation of making his famous Blitzwasser liqueur. He also enjoyed making his favorite Slovakian foods such as gravlox, kolaché, sauerkraut and dumplings. Tom had such a gift of knowledge and conversation. He never failed to share that gift through a good story or one of his legendary jokes. And if you were fortunate enough to hear him play his treasured accordion, you knew you were in for a special treat!

He was a loving uncle to many nieces and nephews: Joseph, Liz, Michael, Kathleen, James, Anne, Julie, John, Susan, Tom, Danny and Paul, as well as many great nieces and nephews.

Survived by his sister Louise Vacek of Omaha, Nebraska and many other friends.

Visitation will be on Tuesday, June 28th at 10:00 am at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 14598 Oak Ridge Rd., Carmel, Indiana. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow visitation for Tom at 11:00 am.

His final resting place will be at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery, 9001 N. Haverstick Road, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Some of Tom’s fondest memories were the years he studied abroad. In lieu of flowers, the family will be collecting donations in memory of Tom to be given to Washington State University’s student study abroad program. Online donations for Tom may be made at: https://bit.ly/PesekFund

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.leppertmortuary.com for the Pesek family.