Born Thomas Gordon Bump in Ft. Sam Houston, Texas on January 22, 1947 to Captain Wilbur “Bill” Bump and Betty Alice (Roseland) Bump. His parents divorced a few years later and his mother remarried to Bob Nowlin in 1950 and they moved to Brenham, Texas, Bob’s hometown. Two half-brothers, Bobby and Ronnie Nowlin were born and along with sister Bonnie, formed the core of his beloved siblings.
At an early age, Tom was in very poor health having contracted Mumps, Measles, Chicken Pox, Encephalitis, Whooping Cough, and an assortment of migraines, boils, and colds. At one point at age 8, he was near death and spent several days hospitalized in a coma. Nursed back to health by his maternal grandmother, he missed much of the first through third grades, including the entire second grade in elementary school. During those early years, he lived in various homes and towns until shortly after graduation from John Marshall High School in 1965.
After a few months of “wasting time” at San Antonio College, he dropped out of college only to receive his draft notice in January, 1966 when President Johnson was ramping up the war in Vietnam. Not wanting to go in the Army, he enlisted in the US Navy the following March. While in boot camp in San Diego, he volunteered for submarine duty, and after completing submarine school in the fall of 1966, was assigned to the USS Cusk (SS-348), a historical diesel submarine that had been commissioned near the end of World War II. During his service in the Navy, he was awarded the National Defense Medal, Vietnam Service with one bronze star, and the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation for Gallantry. Tom always credited his military service, especially boot camp and his time in the “Silent Service” as having had an incredibly profound impact on his life. He was fiercely proud of his military service, especially the earning his Dolphins to become a qualified submariner.
After military service, Tom returned home to San Antonio to resume his job as a stockman in a local grocery chain. He quickly worked his way up to store manager in both Austin and San Antonio but soon realized that, without a college education, he was on a plateau from which he could never rise.
Subsequently he quit his job as store manager and after a brief stint as an office manager for a small oil company; he reenrolled in San Antonio College, almost 10 years after his first attempt. Using his GI Bill benefits and part time jobs, he earned the first of his three college degrees. In time he would earn an AA degree in Math, a BBA in Management and Marketing, and an MS in Computer Science.
In 1976, while attending The University of Texas at San Antonio, he was pressured and eventually shamed into a blind date by an old high school friend and fellow submariner. That girl turned out to be the love of his life and he married Cathy Patrice VanFleet on June 6, 1977. He would never hesitate to tell you that it was the best, most wonderful decision he ever made in his life.
Throughout his life, Tom continued to take on numerous diverse jobs and challenges in addition to the Submarine Service. He worked as a busboy in a truck stop, gas station attendant, package boy, stock boy, grocery store manager, office manager, adjunct college professor, software engineer, systems engineer, chief test engineer, program manager and launch support engineer. Of all the jobs he had though, he would tell you that his years working on the Space Shuttle and on launch systems at Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center were by far the most enjoyable.
Tom always said that he led a most wonderful and blessed life. But his most important blessings, of which he was most proud, were his beloved wife Patrice, his daughters Lindsay, Valerie and Courtney, and his grandsons, Jonah, Samuel and Caleb Kanagy.
Tom was survived by his younger brother Bobby Nowlin and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He was preceded by his father, Wilbur Thomas Bump, mother Betty Alice Nowlin, sister Bonnie Mundis, and younger brother Ronnie Nowlin.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.9.5