Thomas Howard Englund

Thomas Howard Englund, 82, of Dunbarton, passed away peacefully on January 6, 2023. Born on August 13, 1940 in Rockford, IL, he was the son of the late Howard Hjalmar and Mildred Magdalene Englund (nee Carlson).

Thomas spent his early years in Rockford, IL until he was 14 when his family moved to Burlingame, CA. He met his wife, Susan Yulich, when they were both juniors and active in the same church youth group despite attending rival high schools. Tom graduated in 1958 from Burlingame High School, then attended and graduated from Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA in 1962 with a BA in Chemistry. Sue and Tom were married at Millbrae Baptist Church in Millbrae, CA in June of 1963, then they both attended Michigan State University to further their education. Tom graduated in 1967 with a PhD in Higher Education Administration.

After earning their degrees, Tom and Sue settled in Topsfield, MA where they lived for 10 years and their two children were born. In 1977 the family moved to Chevy Chase, MD where they lived for 6 years. In 1983 they purchased an old farm house in Dunbarton, NH where they settled down permanently. In addition, they enjoyed spending time at Lake Ossipee in New Hampshire, generously sharing the lake house they purchased there with lifelong friends.

Tom’s gift was administration, loving to work towards solutions to difficulties, excited by the expansion and betterment of higher education, especially within Christian schools. Tom held many positions over the years in higher education administration from the Dean of Students at Gordon College, to being the Director of a Federal Grant in Washington, D.C., to the Dean of Faculty at Franklin Pierce College, to the President of the consortium of 13 Christian colleges across the US.

An early love of Africa led to long term work toward the establishment of a Christian university in Nairobi, Kenya named Daystar. He helped in the development of the faculty there by supplementing with individuals from the US and Canada. Additionally, he helped develop an exchange program of students between Daystar and US schools. He served on Daystar’s support organization of the US board of trustees for many years as well as serving for a short time as interim chairman.

Being an amateur photographer himself, his interest in photography was invigorated by his many trips to Africa and the thousands of photographs he took of African wildlife while on safaris. His interests included early American photographers, particularly of the American West. Another fascination was following and collecting early American pewter and antique furniture.

He is survived by his loving wife Susan Margaret Englund (nee Yulich); son Brent Thomas Englund; daughter Jessica Margaret Jones (nee Englund); grandchildren Tyler Philip Jones (age 12), Emma Margaret Jones (age 9), and Gabriel Thomas Jones (age 7). He is predeceased by his beloved brother Philip James Englund.

A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, January 28 at 1:00pm at United Baptist Church, 39 Fayette St, Concord, NH 03301.

Donations in Thomas’s memory may be offered to Daystar University (www.DaystarUS.org, 8011 34th Ave S, Ste C50, Bloomington, MN 55425)

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