Born on March 15, 1948, Tom grew up in West Tennessee, the son of Helen and Wallace McKelvy. He was an All State Football Player at Camden High School and a four-year letterman at University of Tennessee at Martin, where he is a member of the Sports Hall of Fame.
Tom lived a simple, Godly life devoted to his family. After a long and successful career in the scrap metal business, he spent his retirement playing golf at Holston Hills and Cherokee country clubs, watching Fox News and UT sports at ear-splitting volumes, asking visitors to shut the door, and doing absolutely anything his grandchildren asked him to do. On Sundays you could find Tom on the third row at Resurrection Presbyterian Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Jerry McKelvy. He is survived by his wife of 20 years, Lori Bertelkamp McKelvy, children, Wizzie (Dan) Irvin, and Lan (Cara) Jones, and grandchildren, Scotty and Sonny Irvin and London and Brooks Jones, and sisters Freddie Croney and Sara Cagle.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, January 9, 2026 at First Cumberland Presbyterian Church at 9am followed by a receiving of friends.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Thrive, P.O. Box 50611, Knoxville, TN, 37950, or online at https://www.helpusthrive.com/donate.
