Thomas William Harrelson

Thomas William Harrelson sailed on his final voyage on March 4th, 2025, Mardi Gras Day! Born August 10, 1943 in Kinston, NC, he was the son of John Todd and Virginia Simmons Harrelson. Tom began his working career at age 7, building rose trellises that were sold to lady gardeners. At age 12 he began working in a local grocery store after school hours and on weekends, starting as a bag boy and advancing to become a secondary butcher and the produce manager to earn money to help his family finances. He found time to play sports such as Little League baseball, football and basketball. In Grainger High School he became editor of the school newspaper and a representative on the student council. He was also active in the Gordon Street Christian Church where he was selected to give the sermon on student days. Although the family had no money for college, Tom was determined to get a college education. He applied for and received a Congressional appointment to the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) which is known as Kings Point. It is one of the five federal service academies along with West Point, Annapolis, Coast Guard, and Air Force. He graduated in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science in Transportation with Honors, an unlimited Third Mate license for any size ship upon any ocean, and a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He earned a Master of Business Administration at the University of Houston in 1982. His USMMA class applied to the President of the United States to graduate early to provide logistical support for the Vietnam war. Unlike the other service academies, Kings Point students spend a year at sea and go into war zones while still students. He made his first voyage to Vietnam in 1963 after voyages to Africa and Europe and upon graduation he immediately joined Grace Lines and again sailed for Vietnam. He then sailed as a Second Mate with Grace Line primarily to the Caribbean and South America, with one coastwise trip as Chief Mate.

Mr. Harrelson returned to the Academy in 1969 to serve as the Special Assistant and Military Aide to the Superintendent, Vice-Admiral Gordon McLintock USMS. He reached the rank of Lt-Cmdr in both the US Maritime Service and the US Naval Reserve. In 1972 he joined Delta Steamship Lines as Assistant to the President and subsequently rose to Vice President of Traffic and Marketing. He concurrently served as Chairman of the National Maritime Council's Central Region, an organization of labor and management formed to promote the U.S. flag merchant marine. On behalf of Delta, he authored two reference books for the industry (Foreign Assistance Programs and Related Cargo Preference Laws, Policies and Regulations and Delta Line Lash Container System). Following a two-year term as Director of Marketing for the Hydril Corporation, he joined Contship Container Lines as Owners Representative and Vice President of the Gulf and South Atlantic. He later became Senior Vice President of Smith & Kelly stevedores and President of American Freight Forwarders and the EMBA Group, a vessel agency. After merging these companies into Inchcape Shipping, he joined the US-DOT Maritime Administration in November 1992 and became a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). While at MARAD, he co-founded the Exporters Competitive Maritime Council (ECMC) -- composed of the most active engineering, procurement and construction companies and their freight forwarders - to work together with Government to devise practical transportation policies.

Tom was active in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy alumni association since graduation and served as Class of 1966 Agent for 47 years, as president of alumni chapters in Savannah, Houston and Washington, DC, and Regional Vice President for the mid-Atlantic area and finally as Vice-Chairman of Alumni Affairs for the national Board of Directors of their Foundation and concurrently as Vice-Chairman of their Congressional Liaison Committee. Mr. Harrelson also was a member of the Board of Directors of the Manzanar Project, a research feeding project in Eritrea and Morocco. He was a member of the Propeller Club, the Navy League, the National Defense Transportation Association, the U.S. Tennis Association, the U.S. Golf Association, the Army-Navy Country Club, and a former member of the Southern Yacht Club and the Kingwood Golf Club. He served through the rank of Lieutenant-Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve and received the National Defense Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal. He holds the DOT Bronze Medal and numerous other awards from the Government and industry. Tom is survived by his wife, Mari Cote, and two daughters Kathryn Hayes and Virginia Dutile-Thompson and six grandchildren (Jacob, Zachary, Mikayla, Andrew Dutile and Casey, Patrick Hayes), his brothers John and James Harrelson and sister Martha Simon and his godson Sean Landis. In lieu of flowers, please consider a tax-deductible donation to the US Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association and Foundation in memory of Thomas Harrelson, class of 1966, by visiting www.usmmaalumni.com.