Thomas Albert Fry, III of Dallas, passed away suddenly from natural causes at his home on August 7, 2019. He was a beloved man who loved life and is deeply mourned by his family and his many friends and colleagues.
Tom was born in Richmond City, Virginia on November 13, 1944 to Rev. Thomas A. Fry, Jr. and Leila Louise Sullivan Fry. Tom came to Dallas when his father was called to serve as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas in the summer of 1959. He attended Hillcrest High School where he played football and ran track, and remained a proud “Panther”. He received his B.S. in Political Science from Trinity University, and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University.
Tom had an extensive career in government and the private sector. In 1999, Tom was appointed by President Clinton and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate to serve as Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) in Washington, D.C. having served as Deputy Director two years prior. BLM is the federal agency that manages 264 million acres of federally owned lands, as well as oil and gas and mineral resources underlying another 300 million acres of federal and privately owned lands. While at the BLM, one of his proudest achievements was signing the Bureau directive to create the National Landscape Conservation System that consolidated all of the BLM conservation units into a cohesive system, much like the National Park system.
Before coming to the BLM, Tom was Chief of Staff for Interior Deputy Secretary John Garamendi, a position in which he provided leadership and policy oversight for special departmental initiatives, as well as Director of the Minerals Management Service from 1993 – 1994. In that capacity, he was responsible for the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and other minerals on the Nation's Outer Continental Shelf. Tom also oversaw the collection of revenues for minerals development on Federal and Indian lands.
After Tom’s government service, he became the Executive Director of the National Oceans Industry Association (NOIA) from 2001 until he retired in 2010. Tom also served on the boards of Freeport-McMoRan, Inc., Plains Exploration & Production Co., Pogo Producing Co. LLC, as well as the nonprofit National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.
Prior to 1993, Tom was active in the Clinton-Gore campaign, and was Vice President of American Natural Resources, Inc., a Dallas natural gas processing and transmission company where he handled analysis and legal review of all aspects of the firm's business. At the U.S. Department of Energy in Dallas, Tom was Regional Council where he supervised 25 attorneys involved in every phase of the oil and gas industry. He also served as Director of the Houston Field Office of the Economic Regulatory Administration, supervising some 60 auditors working to enforce federal price controls. Tom was in private law practice for two years with the Dallas firm of Cooper, Hayner, Miller and Long, and he was an Assistant Attorney General of Texas and Assistant Chief of the State's Anti-Trust Consumer Protection program.
Tom served on active duty in the U.S. Army for more than two years, attaining the rank of Captain. He was Assistant Team Commander of a U.S. Nike Hercules unit supporting NATO forces, and was later assigned to develop policy and administer the Special Ammunition Release Program for ninety-six units in four European countries, and received the Army Commendation Medal.
Tom’s parents precede him in death. He is survived by his wife of 5 years, Melanie L. Beller; his son, Thomas Helm Hocker, wife Julie, and grandchildren Ryan, Reid, and Lily; and his brother Charlie Fry.
A “Celebration of Life” event will be announced at a later date in Dallas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a tribute donation to the American Heart Association, at https://www.heart.org.
DONACIONES
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.11.2