Thomas Lee Bethea

Tom loved five things in life. His family, a cup of black coffee, poker, good music and an occasional Budweiser beer. He is predeceased by his mother Irma, his father Liston, his brothers Stanley, Jesse, and his brother-in-law Bob. He was a lifelong resident of San Diego with most of it having been spent in National City California, some of it in Lemon Grove, and with only a small stint in Drain, Oregon.

He was a Sweetwater High School Red Devil with an Associate's degree in Construction Technology from Southwestern College. He is survived by his children, Kane and Carrie, his son-in-law Elliot, his sister Florence, his sister-in-law Judy, his cousin Steve and his nieces Elizabeth and Rene and his nephews Robert and Chris along with their spouses and children.

Tom was drafted into the army for the Vietnam War where he was awarded a Purple Heart. Upon completion of his service, he married his sister's good friend Janice Williams and created his family. He put his young children in school at San Miguel Elementary where he became involved in the Boy Scouts and his children's little league teams. He worked on countless construction projects throughout his life all around San Diego County. He helped build a personal residence for Jack Ridout of Ridout Plastics, that was featured in the San Diego Union Tribune under the title, "The House that Jack Built". He also worked with Corky McMillin and remembers when Corky lost a finger to a power saw. He worked on a personal residence of Doug Manchester as well. All this really set him up for was a lifetime of helping his friends and family fix all things broken or in need of updating. He was our Mr. Fixit or especially later in life, Mr. Eventually I'll Fixit, depending on the project.

If you lived in National City there is a good chance you might have caught a glimpse of Tom as he walked everywhere and stood out, being 6ft 2in tall, broad shouldered and lean with a long white beard. He would often chat with the local Walmart employees about going home to his "two girls" (his cats Pookie and Boots).

On a Sunday night on December 7th, Tom called his daughter about their plans for Monday, called and left a message for his friend Paul about the day's events at the local casino, turned on the TV, put his slippers on, laid down on the couch, closed his eyes and without a warning, sometime in the night, he shuffled off this mortal coil going somewhere we could no longer follow, effectively breaking our hearts forever.

Services for Tom will be held at 10:30am January 16th, 2026 at Funeraria Del Angel, 607 National City Blvd, National City, CA 91950. He will be laid to rest the same day at 1:00 pm at The El Cajon Cemetery located at 2080 Dehesa Road in El Cajon next to the mother of his children, Janice Barrett.