Thomas Henry Hinton

Mr. Thomas Henry Hinton, 70, died unexpectedly on November 17, 2015. A graveside service with military honors will be at 2 PM, Saturday, November 21 at Forest Lawn Cemetery with Reverend Jack Lemons officiating. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 PM tonight at Hanes-Lineberry Vanstory chapel.

Tom was born in New York City to the late Henry and Kathryn McLaird Hinton. In 1967 entered the US Army during the Viet Nam War where he was in the 82nd Airborne, served as a Special Forces Medic and left the Army with the rank of Staff Sergeant. He received his undergraduate degree from UNC-G and his MBA from UNC-CH. Tom was successful retired CPA serving in both public and private sectors. He particularly enjoyed voluntarily preparing taxes for members of the Montagnard community. He loved linguistics and was fluent in French, Greek, Rada and currently studying Vietnamese.

His family was so important to Tom and he loved spending time with his sons and was a very supportive and encouraging father, loving husband, caring brother, and faithful friend. With his outgoing and carefree spirit making friends came easy to Tom because others felt comfortable in his presence. Tom was deeply committed to serving others, especially helping with the resettlement efforts of the Montagnards after the war. He had the opportunity to return to Viet Nam to teach English and accounting at the University of Viet Nam and while looking for an apartment, met his realtor who became his wife. After living in Viet Nam they went to Cambodia and gave back to the community by working in a children’s orphanage. Tom was an excellent cook, loved to travel, enjoyed working in his yard and was an avid outdoorsman. Camping, hiking, and canoeing were some of his favorite activities. He was also a talented carpenter and handyman.

He is survived by his wife of ten years, Ngoc Tran Hinton of Greensboro; sons, Joseph Hinton of FL and Matthew Hinton of Philadelphia, PA and their mother, Pamela Patterson (Edwin) of Sanford; step-son, Duy Nguyen (Xuan) of Greensboro; sisters, Virginia Stancil (Jay) and Mary Louise Barker (Alex) both of Maine; brother, Charles Hinton (Betty Jean) of Pittsboro; and niece, Renee Wilder (Rodney) of Sanford.

Floral tributes are welcome or memorial contributions may be made to www.woundedwarriorproject.org. Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.