Thomas Byron Wilkinson was born on September 5th, 1940 and passed away on August 27th, 2022. Tom was born in Farmville, VA, as this was the closest town that had a hospital. He lived and grew up in Chase City, VA. His family moved to Largo, FL on September 5th, 1953, an unusual 13th birthday present for sure. His parents were James Robert Wilkinson and Maggie Izora Thomas. He graduated from Largo High School in 1958. In 1961, he joined the United States Air Force and served for 4 years. On June 16, 1973, he married Barbara Ann Hartmann. His first, and only child, Eric James Wilkinson, was born in Largo, FL in 1976. He was employed by GTE for nearly thirty years. He is survived by his wife, his son, his daughter-in-law, and many other friends and extended family.
His pride and joy was his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle. He purchased it new off the lot. Barbara and Tom used the car to go on dates, took Barbara to the hospital to deliver their only child and brought the whole family home from the hospital, and was used for Eric and Christina's wedding as they drove it away from the wedding reception.
Tom was an avid genealogist. He published two books of Wilkinson genealogy, and traced the family back to the 1700's. A copy of his first book is in the Library of Congress. He spent years collecting data and compiling files of records. Many a summer vacation was spent traipsing through tall grass behind an old country church, looking for that gravestone he needed.
He was one week short of his 82nd birthday and about nine months short of celebrating 50 years of marriage. We thought we were going to lose him six years ago to cancer, but he fought that and we were given bonus time to be with him. He passed quietly with his family next to him. My dad was always the neighborhood Mr Fix it. You could always find another neighbor's car, lawn mower, or anything else with a motor sitting in our garage. He would never accept payment. I spent much of my childhood standing over the hood of a car, handing him tools while he had 70's and 80's rock on the radio. He was a man of few words, but a fantastic storyteller if given paper and pen. He loved trains and we would sit by the railroad tracks near Largo Middle school and wait for the Amtrak train to go by. We would listen to records of train whistles and he would tell me what each one was. He taught me about photography and I would get in trouble by accidentally opening the door when he was in his darkroom developing pictures. He absolutely hated sports, but encouraged me when I would play. He hated hospitals and anything to do with healthcare, and his son goes off and gets a career in medicine. My dad loved animals. Over the years, we had a collection of cats, birds, and ducks. He raised homing pigeons in our backyard and spent countless hours caring for them, cleaning up for them, and nursing sick ones back to health. A country boy at heart, he often spoke and planned on moving out of Pinellas County and finding a quiet plot of land away from the hustle and bustle of the city. I never once saw or heard my parents argue or fight. If they did, and I'm sure there was, it was never in front of me. My dad was never the most sentimental person, but I knew he loved my mom from his actions. Even the last time I talked with him in the hospital, he was more worried about having me fix the garage door and back door for mom, than his own health. Thank you dad, for all you taught me. I really hope you have a bench to feed the birds up there!
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