Thomas Leonard Garcia Jr.

Thomas Leonard Garcia, Jr. passed away peacefully on the evening of July 7th 2025 in Clovis, California. He was 95 years young. He was born on November 12, 1929 in Hollister, California and was the 4th of seven children born to Thomas and Emma Garcia.

Tom is survived by his wife, Kathleen Garcia, whom he was married to for over 77 years. He is also survived by his three children: Leonard Garcia & wife Jane, Jeanne Rawn & husband Daniel, and Larry Garcia. Tom is also survived by sisters Valerie Marino of Wheat Ridge, Colorado and Malia Dacascos Bernal of San Jose, California. His grandchildren include Eric Rawn & wife Thalia, Christopher Rawn and wife Amanda, Jeanne Sawali and husband Emil, Ryan Garcia, Adam Garcia, & Devon Rawn. He was also blessed with nine beautiful great grandchildren and many, many nieces and nephews.

Tom was preceded in death by parents Tom and Emma Garcia as well as sister Georgiana Garcia, Lucille Hopcroft & husband John, sister Charlotte Yanez, and brother Fred Garcia. Tom was blessed with many family members and friends and considered his wife’s family as his own. He was close to all sixteen brothers and sisters-in-law and enjoyed many years of family reunions filled with laughter and love.

Tom, who was known to most people as Junior, spent most of his years in Hollister and attended the local schools. All through school and into adulthood he was called Junior. Some still call him Junior. He was an exceptional baseball player and a scout visited Hollister High when Tom was 16 years old to watch him pitch. He offered to take Tom to San Francisco to try out with the San Francisco Seals, which was a AAA team. Since he was only sixteen years old, he had to get his mother’s permission. She said no, he was too young to be away from home and, although he continued to play baseball in his home town, he never pursued that career.

When Tom was just fourteen his sister, Lucille, and brother-in-law, John, drove him up to San Francisco to purchase his first car. In those days, a driver’s license was required but enforcement, luckily, was random so he drove it back to Hollister on his own. It was a Ford Coupe with a rumble seat and he paid cash - $90.

Tom attended the Assembly of God Church in Hollister and that is where he met Katie. Even though they attended high school together they didn’t notice each other at school, but rather at church. Katie and her family attended the same church and one day they locked eyes. Tom told his brother, Fred, that he was going to marry that girl someday. They dated for one and a half years and were married in the pastor’s parsonage on March 28th, 1948. Tom’s brother, Fred, was his best man and Katie’s sister, Sylvia, was her maid of honor. An earthquake began shaking the room just as the “I do’s” were said. Married for so many years, it could only have been a good omen.

That was the beginning of Tom and Katie’s long life together and they were blessed with three beautiful children: Sons Charles Leonard and Larry Edward, and daughter Jeanne Carol. Tom spent much of his free time teaching his children not only how to ride bicycles but how to fix them. He also passed on his love for baseball to all three kids. He was a softie when it came to his kids and if their mom said no, they only had to go ask their dad to get the answer they were seeking.

Except for Tom’s family, his greatest passion was his love for motorcycles. He bought a motorcycle when he was 17 and his mother made him take it back. He often joked that he married Katie so that he could buy a motorcycle without his mother’s permission. His first motorcycle was a Harley Davidson. His numerous motorcycles over the years also included a Triumph, Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki. He was a member of the American Motorcycle Association and a charter member of the Hollister Motorcycle Top Hats Club. Tom spent many years riding thousands of miles with his Hollister buddies.

Tom was also an avid bicycle rider and participated in many bicycle tours, riding as much as a hundred miles in a day. When not riding bicycles or motorcycles he would take long walks around town, stopping to talk to anyone who was open for a short or, even better, for a long conversation. He loved to play pool and would spend at least one day a week at his buddy’s house. The competition was friendly but fierce and Tom was usually the winner.

One of Tom’s favorite memories was his trip to Missouri with Katie and her brother Yancy and sister-in-law Alda in 1997. It was a trip taken to rediscover Katie and Yancy’s younger years of living in Missouri before the family moved to California. It was a great time for all of them and Tom spoke of that trip often and how much fun it was. Years before Tom and Katie had accompanied Yancy and Alda to Reno to be witnesses at their wedding. Obviously, the four of them had a special relationship.

Tom was a kidder and liked a good joke. It was not always easy to tell when he was joking or when he was serious and he loved to try and fool people. Only those who knew him well were able to tell by the look on his face and the twinkle in his eye. He was known for his sometimes “brutal” honesty and if you didn’t want the truth, it was better not to ask.

Tom’s professions were varied. He worked for PG&E for a short time as well as for the Hollister Cannery. He also drove a tractor in the fields of Hollister for many of the local farmers. Every summer for many years he spent three months in El Centro driving truck for the Union Sugar Beet Division and every summer Katie would get on the Greyhound bus and spend a week with Tom. Eventually, he went to work for Waste Management as a truck driver and retired in 1997 at the age of 68.

Tom spent much of his spare time in the garage working on his many motorcycles and bicycles. The garage door would always be open and the neighborhood kids would often bring their bicycles to Tom for repairs. He would add air to the tires, patch them if needed, oil the chains, and grease the peddles and wheels. Tom would repair and paint old bicycles and give them out to any kid who didn’t have a bicycle and needed one. He loved kids and they loved him.

Tom spent 93 years of his life in Hollister, California. His wife, Katie, had been in a nursing home for a couple of years so in 2023 their grandson, Eric, helped move them to a house in Clovis so they could live their remaining years together. They had kids and grandkids dropping by often and that gave them a lot of joy. Tom and Katie spent much of their time together holding hands and watching old movies and reminiscing about the past. It was a nostalgic time sharing many happy memories.

Although Tom was not a regular church-goer he believed in God and read the Bible faithfully. Tom was secure in the knowledge that he had lived a good life with few regrets. He knew his days on Earth were not the end but just the beginning of a new life.

A funeral service will be held at Boice Funeral Home, 308 Pollasky Ave, Clovis, CA 93612, on August 2, 2025, at 11:00 am.