Thomas J. Agnor

Thomas J. Agnor, Jr., beloved father and cherished grandfather passed away on Monday, April 5, 2010. Born September 29, 1925 in Marshall, Texas to Thomas J. Agnor and Mary Bell Thrasher Agnor, Tom was committed to excellence, service, education, and faith. He graduated from West Point in 1946 and that summer met the love of his life, Dorsey Jeanne Cater. They married on April 8, 1947 and together spent a lifetime serving their country while committed to each other and their family. Following his basic training and specialized Ordinance Corps training, Tom was sent by the Army to MIT and earned a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1950. He then served in a variety of posts including overseas in Japan; teaching Ordinance classes at his beloved West Point; and overseas again in France until he was called home to serve briefly at Ft. Leavenworth, KS in preparation as a chief project officer at Rock Island Arsenal and then deputy commander of Ft. Clayton in the Panama Canal Zone. Nearing the end of that assignment, he received the great honor of being selected to be the Project Manager for the elite team that developed the M60 tank at the Chrysler plants in Detroit from 1966-1969. Following a full year of serving as a senior advisor in Vietnam, he returned to Rock Island Arsenal as Chief of Staff in 1971 and later served as Arsenal Commander until his retirement after more than 29 years of service in July of 1975. After retirement, he returned to his family home of Austin, Texas and earned a law degree from the University of Texas in 1978. Always committed to the value of education, he was elected to serve on the AISD school board from 1994-1998. Tom and Dorsey were faithful parishioners of First United Methodist Church Austin (and St. John's Methodist Davenport) and active patrons of many charities. They enjoyed travel and classical music among many other interests. Tom was an ardent Longhorn fan, attending countless football, basketball, and baseball games. He also dealt a mean hand of five-card stud with his favorite "Uptown Poker Club" buddies. He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Dorsey, and he will be deeply and sorely missed by his four children and their spouses: Nancy and Mike Green, Laura and Lucky Lang, Julie Ellison and Robert and Katy Agnor; his four grandchildren: Amy Giles, Alan Lang, Tommy Weisz and Travis Green; 1 great grand daughter, Veronika Lang; his brother, two sisters, and many nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Helping Hand Home for Children, First United Methodist Church or the charity of your choice. Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church at 12th and Lavaca with burial service immediately following at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery.