Thomas George Glenn

Thomas George Glenn was born April 5, 1943, in Billings, Montana. He passed away in his home on December 26, 2024, surrounded by the love and care of his family. He got his wish to spend one last Christmas at home.

Tom was the second oldest of five sons (Max, John (Jack), Gordon, and Frank) born to Chester Louis Glenn and Ruby Leona (Penn) Glenn. One of his brothers’ favorite childhood memories is how they used to hang out in the clubhouse in the backyard. In order to be like the “grown-ups,” they would wrap dried maple leaves in typing paper and smoke them – it tasted terrible! One time, a neighbor boy came to their mother, Ruby, and said, “Do you know that your boys are smoking in the backyard?” Ruby replied, “Mind your own business!”

Tom graduated from East High School in 1961. Tom used to joke that he graduated last in his class in high school – because he walked across the stage to get his high school diploma last since he was playing “Pomp and Circumstance” in the band. He received degrees from the Colorado School of Mines in Physical Metallurgy – a Bachelor of Science in 1966 and a Master of Science in 1969. Tom had many honors while at Mines – Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Kappa Kappa Psi (National Honorary Band Fraternity), Alpha Sigma Mu (an honorary society for metallurgy), Alpha Phi Omega (national service fraternity), and Band (including the Colorado School of Mines Dance Band).

After completing his undergraduate degree, Tom worked for General Electric in Ohio. He served his ROTC commitment in the Army from 1966-1968 as a Lieutenant. One of Tom’s duties was to talk to wives who had lost their husbands in the Vietnam War.

Tom met his wife Ruth (Agnew) Glenn at Frankford Arsenal, where she was working as a secretary in the Operations Control Office. Lieutenants came into the office for short-term special assignments. Ruth thought, “This lieutenant, I like.” Tom was having similar thoughts. He asked her to a dinner-dance, but Ruth couldn’t dance because she was pending surgery for torn knee cartilage from teaching people to do the twist. So, she turned him down; her boss’s assistant said, “Tiger, you can eat, can’t you?” So, she said “yes” the next time he asked, and their second date was in the hospital after cartilage surgery. They were married at Trinity Church Oxford in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Easter Saturday, 1968 and then moved to Colorado.

In Colorado, Tom finished his graduate degree and worked at Rocky Flats as a metallurgical engineer from 1970 to 2003. At work, Tom was a logical, detail-oriented, team player, and a great report writer. He only signed off on work that met the specs of the contractor because integrity meant a lot to him. He preferred “boots on the ground” Research and Development work and even asked to go back to it after receiving a promotion to be a manager. He was blessed to spend 30 plus years doing the problem-solving work of an engineer and only spent a brief time doing managerial work.

Tom and Ruth were married for 56 years. Their marriage was founded on a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Even though they sometimes disagreed, they always worked as a team. They raised two successful children, Ronald (Ron) Paul Glenn and Leanne Elizabeth Glenn. Ron is married to Jariya Glenn. Tom has one grandson through that marriage, Thomas Lee Glenn who intends to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps studying engineering at Colorado School of Mines next year.

Both children fondly remember the 60’s folk and gospel songs their dad sang while playing his guitar. Both of Tom’s adult children (and his grandson) remember driving lessons with their dad/grandad and the great lessons he taught all of them about lifelong fitness. He was always ready to help both of his children talk through problems even as adults, and he was always prepared to answer a series of never-ending curious questions from his inquisitive grandson.

Ron treasures the memories of his dad as a great model of manhood, self-sacrifice, humility, and determination. His dad even saved the next-door neighbor from a house fire in the middle of the night with the help of the other next-door neighbor! He remembers that Dad taught that credibility is easy to lose and hard to get back and was a master disciplinarian who used logical consequences.

Leanne remembers her dad as a logical thinker. She appreciates how her dad really helped her to improve her writing skills essential for her career and that he always encouraged her to keep up a regular exercise schedule – no matter how many work meetings and medical appointments she needed to balance. One saying their dad used to repeatedly say is, “If at first you don’t succeed, just keep on sucking ‘til you do succeed!”

Tom had many close friends from the Rocky Flats Mountaineering group and other outdoor enthusiasts that he met along the way – skiing, biking, hiking in the mountains. They even did a few canoe trips, including one along the Boundary Waters, where Tom did the meal planning and was sure to plan for sufficient calorie intake for each meal for everyone! Tom thrived on being in the mountains and had a special love for skiing in fresh powder. He took both of his children and his grandson on hikes, went on numerous bike rides with his son and grandson, and hiked three 14ers with his daughter even into his late 70s.

He is survived by his wife, two children, three younger brothers, late brother’s wife, sisters-in-law, and their families. He will be sorely missed by both his family and friends.