Tom is survived by his son, Robert (Leigh) Mays, sisters Ruth Estep (Mays) and Sue Mays, and ex-wife Carol Mays (Ritzer), as well as several nephews. He was predeceased by his father, Ivan F. Mays, his mother, Reva L. Mays (Newton), and brother David Mays.
Tom enjoyed spending time with his grandson, Daniel and was looking forward to meeting his newest grandson, Oliver.
With great pride and enjoyment in his career, Tom retired in 2019 from the Federal Trade Commission where he worked for 16 years as Counsel for Intellectual Property. Earlier in his career, he worked as a patent examiner at the United States Patent & Trademark Office and later as the Director of the Office of Technology Development at NIH's National Cancer Institute. He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Ohio State University, a J.D. from Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
A celebration of life will be held by family in February 2020. In lieu of flowers, family and friends are encouraged to contribute in his memory to The Trevor Project of Washington, D.C.