Thomas M. Fletcher

A native of California, longtime former resident of Washington State and resident of Southside Gardens Independent Living Center in Baton Rouge since 2004, Thomas M. Fletcher, 90, passed away at Baton Rouge General Medical Center on Wednesday, June 11, 2008. A generous, thoughtful man, he lived life to the fullest extent as long as he possibly could. He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, M. Dorothy Fletcher; father, Thomas S. Fletcher; mother, Frances Dorothy Bowser Fletcher; stepbrother, Paul Fletcher; sister, Jeanne "Gail" Dufoe; and brother, Felix Fletcher. Survived by his daughters, Laura Fletcher Lindsay and her husband, Wendell G. Lindsay Jr., of Baton Rouge, and Fredrica M. Denning, of Cocoa, Fla.; granddaughter, Ashley E. Morra and her husband, Ronald W. Morra, of Pittsboro, N.C.; grandson, Bradley Thomas Denning, of Reston, Va.; sister-in-law, Frances T. Fletcher, of Brevard, N.C.; former son-in-law, Sherwood J. Lemoine, of Baton Rouge; nephews, Harvey Sapp and Stanley Sapp; nieces, Judy Fitzsimmons and Diane Rayborn; two great-nieces, Katie Sapp and Loretta Chavira; and cousin, Terry Fletcher, of Farmington, Conn. Born in Los Angeles, he lived in Philadelphia and Chicago as a young child. In 1927, he returned to Glendale and Berkeley, Calif., where he completed elementary and middle school. He attended Polytechnic High School in San Francisco, Admiral Farragut Academy in Thoms River, N.J., and Ferris College in Big Rapids, Mich., where he was a member of Phi Sigma Chi. A World War II U.S. Navy veteran, he served as an aerographer stationed in the Aleutian Islands. He worked for the Fletcher-Terry Co., a family-owned business, and the Chicago Federated Advertising Club, where he learned the advertising trade. From there he went to work for Thor Tools, N.W. Ayer&Son, Hotpoint, Alden's, the Boeing Co. and Brown and Bigelow. While working at Boeing at the Michoud plant in New Orleans, he supervised the Audio Visual Department's talented artists during the production of the Saturn V rocket. He retired as a regional representative for Goldman Advertising last December at age 89. Along with his wife, he was a charter member of Antlers Astray in Tacoma, Wash., and a member of the U.S. Power Squadron, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and the U.S. Navy Reserve. He cared for and supported several orphanages in western Washington state and created the M. Dorothy Fletcher travel fund for the Interior Design Department at LSU administered by the LSU Foundation. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the travel fund, Hospice of Baton Rouge or a charity of choice. A private memorial service will be at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St.