Thomas C. Maier

Tom was born on the 22nd of February, 1929 to parents John A. Maier and Jennie Jacobs in Newark, New Jersey. He was the second youngest of seven children, which included Mary, Minnie, Rudy, Bess, Rose, (Tom) and John, the youngest. He was the last living sibling from his family. Tom had a hard life growing up, with his father passing when he was seven years old, followed by his mother passing when he was 20 years old. His mother became quite ill, so Tom had to quit school to get a job to help support the family. He later worked at the Newark Public Library and got his GED going to night school.

Tom met his wife Bonnie F. Smith at the Salvation Army Corps building in Plainfield New Jersey while her brother Captain Maro E. Smith was the officer there. They were married by Maro (who was always called “Bus”) on the 22nd of June, 1954 and remained married for over 65 years. Tom went to the Salvation Army Officer’s Training School in New York and became a Salvation Army Officer. Bonnie also went to the Officer’s Training School and became an officer. Once married, they served together at a couple Corps assignments. They eventually left the work but continued as Salvation Army soldiers throughout their life. Tom later worked at EAI in Long Branch New Jersey and ran a production line for vacuum-tube based analogue computers used in the military and for simulations. In 1961 he joined the IBM corporation and was a Senior Customer Engineer servicing IBM equipment in the field. He took early retirement in 1984 and moved to the Tampa area in Florida, working for the Salvation Army and supervising the construction of several new buildings, including the new Tampa Corps building. He retired again at age 77 and remained active for several more years.

During his life, he was a dedicated soldier and took a commission as the Corps Sargent Major at Asbury Park, New Jersey, Red Bank, New Jersey and later at Tampa, Florida. He was extremely active, along with his wife Bonnie in the corps. Both played in the band, sang in the songsters and were actively involved in several youth programs. Tom also designed and built numerous props, ranging from smaller projects used by the Corps to larger scale projects including a large 8-foot Drum that was used during the Christmas holiday. He ended building about a dozen of these over the years. He also designed and built a special “half-drum” which was portable, had it’s own PA system and used as a Pulpit to conduct Open-Air meetings on the boardwalk in Asbury Park. He later built several more for other Salvation Army locations which were used extensively to preach the gospel.

In his private life, he and Bonnie had three children, Thomas David, born on the 27th of May 1955, Kevin Edward, born on the 1st July 1957 and Jeffrey Allen, born on the 22nd November 1963. All were schooled in New Jersey and graduated from Ocean Township High School. Thomas David (Dave) still works for the Salvation Army Social Services managing the maintenance and repair of their fleet of vehicles, Kevin retired from the IBM Corporation in 2015 and Jeff works for TECO (Tampa Electric Company) as an Underground Equipment Inspector.

Tom is survived by his wife, Bonnie, their three children, David, Kevin and Jeffrey and daughter-in-laws Donna, Jean (Div.) and Becky (Sep.). They also have seven grandchildren, Jennifer, Heather, Stefanie, Michael, Joshua, Jeffery Jr. and Kaitlyn and two great grandchildren, Isabella and Brody. Other remaining relatives include nephews Steven Langerholz, Jennifer’s spouse and Jeffrey Sweatland, Heather’s spouse. From Tom’s sister Rose, nephews Kenneth Hunt and Randall Hunt and their spouses Patricia and Darla. On Bonnie’s side, there is Deborah Cousino and her spouse Michael Cousino, Marra Dale Smith, Barbara Smith and Freddy Smith and his spouse Charmaine. A special second niece, Elisha Smith lives locally and is the daughter of Ted Smith, a deceased nephew and son of Maro and Ruby Smith.

Tom also had several hobbies which he enjoyed during his life. He was heavily involved in music, playing in the band and also listening to music at home on an audio system he built from scratch using vacuum tube electronics. He also enjoyed automobiles and always worked on his own cars for maintenance and repairs. He later worked on the restoration of a 1972 Mercedes Benz 350SL along with his three sons. The car went to several shows and won numerous trophies over a couple decades. Tom also stayed active working on projects and built a second garage which was used as his workshop. He endlessly helped family, friends and neighbors throughout his life.

He remained a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend and mentor throughout his life and will be missed by all that knew him. Tom, per his request, will be cremated at the National Cremation & Burial Society in Hudson, Florida. A memorial service will be planned and held at the Salvation Army corps building in Tampa Florida at a future date, pending a change with the current Coronavirus heath crisis in the US.

The family respectfully request donations to charities in lieu of flowers.