Tom was born to Thomas Phillip Husband Sr. and Addie Belle (Phillips) Husband in Nashville, Davidson County, TN. He was the second of four children in a loving family. A star end at Montgomery Bell Academy for legendary Coach Tommy Owen’s team, he played on a state championship football team in 1955. In 1956, he was named Nashville Interscholastic League player of the year. During college, he played linebacker and center for Coach Bowden Wyatt’s Tennessee Volunteers from 1958-60, where he was roommate and teammate of his future brother-in-law, Bill Majors.
While still in high school, Tom was set up on a blind date with his future wife, Shirley Ann Majors, by a combined effort of his sister Harriette and her brother John. The two were married in 1961 at Sewanee, TN’s All Saints’ Chapel and settled afterward in Nashville, where Tom worked for Nashville Tent & Awning Company and was the first of the third generation in the family-owned business. They were blessed with two children, Elizabeth and Thomas, three grandchildren, and one great grandson. Tom was a proud husband, father, granddaddy, and great granddaddy. He was also a devoted son, brother, and grandson.
While working for the family business, he was the president of the CPAI, Zone 6 regional association of canvas vendors and retail manufacturers which encompassed all the southeastern states. His father was one of the founding members of the Zone 6 group. He proudly served his country for six years (1962-68) with the Army Air National Guard.
The family later moved to New Orleans, where Tom owned and operated Brooke Tarpaulin Company and, later, Brooke Tent Rentals & Sales. Socially, he was a member of the Ormond Country Club and the New Orleans Athletic Club. In 1988, the family returned to the Volunteer State where Tom worked for Chattanooga Tent Co. in Chattanooga, TN for 20 years. In 2011, he became co-owner of Tennessee Awning Company and had the distinct pleasure of working alongside his wife, Shirley Ann, and his son, Thomas, for six wonderful years, an experience he truly loved and valued.
A man large in stature with an even larger heart, Tom was kind and patient with others, always quick with a compliment or word of encouragement. He was proud of his wife Shirley Ann’s artistic and creative talents, his son Thomas’s sturdiness of character and strong work ethic and his daughter Elizabeth’s sweet disposition and caring nature. He had a great laugh, a warm voice, and was a proud hugger of those he loved, well before that was fashionable for men, and those who knew him always looked forward to those hugs. Eternally loyal, he was beloved for this trait by his many friends, his siblings, brothers-in-law, and a gaggle of nieces and nephews. Tom was that rare example of a born storyteller who was also an excellent listener, one with a wry, often self-deprecating sense of humor who found humor in life’s comic absurdities. He liked to laugh and he liked to hear others laugh but was also a great man in the clutch when times were tough and the furrow needed plowing.
Never shy of work, he was always looking for a project and was the first to volunteer his time for any group/family/community activity. He was a superb amateur tennis player with a powerful left-handed serve, and he and Shirley Ann (another lefty) were a formidable duo in mixed doubles, winning a number of trophies at Ormond Country Club outside New Orleans. He also played racquetball, handball, and golf for much of his life and was adept at all. Additionally, he was an avid hunter of duck, quail, and dove; he and Shirley Ann occasionally hunted together.
A man of wide and varied interests, lover of western movies and opera, college football and the symphony, Tom was also excellent with his hands and enjoyed woodworking in his later years, crafting beautiful walking sticks much valued by friends and relatives. He was extremely proud of his grandchildren, Roy Thomas, Addie, and John Luke, and the people they have grown up to be, and was thrilled when his great grandson, Efrain, came along.
He is survived by: wife Shirley Ann (Majors) Husband, daughter Elizabeth H Wilson, son Thomas William Husband and girlfriend Carol Rogers, grandson Roy Thomas Tingle, granddaughter Addie Tingle (Efrain) Mora, grandson John Luke Tingle, great-grandson Efrain Mora, brother Phil (Elaine) Husband, sister-in-law Lynn Husband, sisters-in-law Mary Lynn Majors, Lynnie Majors Tunnel, and Lucy Majors, brother-in-law Bobby (Michelle) Majors, and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews, and cousins that he loved dearly.
He was preceded in death by father Thomas Phillip Husband Sr., mother Addie Belle (Phillips) Husband, sister Harriette Husband Stevenson, brother Dick Husband, former brother-in-law John T. Stevenson, father-in-law and mother-in-law Shirley I. and Elizabeth Majors, brothers-in-law John, Joe, Bill, and Larry Majors, and sister-in-law Elizabeth Scokin.
The Arrangements are as follows:
Memorial Service at Lynchburg First Methodist Church, 65 Mechanic St. N, Lynchburg TN 37352, on Thursday, April 3 at 1 pm CDT. The burial is to follow at Lynchburg Cemetery, Wiggins & Cemetery Streets, Lynchburg TN 37352.
Reception at Richland Country Club, 1 Club Dr, Nashville TN 37215, on Thursday, April 10 from 3-7 pm CDT.
Visitation at Chattanooga Funeral Home, 7414 Old Lee Highway, Chattanooga, TN 37421, on Thursday, April 17 from 3-7 pm EDT.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (https://www.stjude.org) or the Tess Majors Foundation (https://www.tessmajorsfoundation.com).
Arrangements are by the Valley View Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home, Crematory & Florist, 7414 Old Lee Hwy., Chattanooga, TN 37421.
Please share your thoughts and memories at www.ChattanoogaValleyViewChapel.com.
