Thomas John Orthmeyer, Sr.

THOMAS "TOM" JOHN ORTHMEYER, SR. December 5, 1950 ~ October 7, 2015 On the evening of Wednesday, October 7th, 2015, the world lost an incredibly hard-working, magnetic, loving, and loyal man in Tom Orthmeyer. He battled various health problems for many years, but was a consummate survivor and lived in his own way until the very end. Even the most grizzled of curmudgeons looked upon his stubbornness with jealousy and admiration.Tom was born in Vancouver, Washington on December 5th, 1950 to Joyce and Gerald "Jerry" Orthmeyer, the oldest of three siblings. He graduated from Columbia River High School, and attended Clark College in Vancouver, Washington before graduating with an English degree from the University of Washington in 1973. He worked in the wood preservation industry for many years, working his way from the lumber yard to the head office, where he was the Director of Operations for a major utility pole manufacturing company for a number of years. He was a highly regarded and well-respected employee and supervisor. In his later years, he worked at Lowe's Hardware in customer service, where he delighted passersby with his 1000-watt smile and dashing red vest. Tom's greatest love was for his family, including his wife Rhonda, son T.J. and daughter-in-law Megan, and later, granddaughters Carolyn and Nora. He loved being surrounded by loved ones, watching and talking about Washington Husky football, and good-naturedly arguing about politics especially following a few solid hours of Fox News. He was particularly adept at telling stories in such a way that even the most mundane topics seemed infuriating, hilarious, or both.Tom was preceded in death by his wife, Rhonda; and father, Jerry. He is survived by son, T.J. (Megan); granddaughters, Carolyn and Nora; mother, Joyce; sister, Judy Famili (Mansour); brother, John (Kelly); and nephew, Kyle, who all miss him dearly and truly wish he could read this obituary with his trademark loveable sarcasm and genuine, good-humored laugh. Tom may be gone too soon, but he left indelible impressions on those fortunate enough to cross his path; he will never be forgotten.In lieu of flowers, donations have been requested in Tom's memory to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center http://getinvolved.fhcrc.org/site/TR?pg=fund&fr_id=1050&pxfid=9256. Please direct your funds toward pancreatic cancer research; though he did not suffer from pancreatic cancer personally, it was an issue that was very important to Tom and his family.Services will be held at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Vancouver, Washington on Saturday, October 24th, 2015 at 3:00p.m. Please sign Thomas's Guest Book at www.columbian.com/obits.

Thomas John Orthmeyer, Sr.

December 5, 1950 - October 7, 2015