Thomas Carl Rash

Thomas (“Tom”) Rash, the only child of the late Edna Gulledge Rash and the late Grady A. Rash, was born in Tyler, Texas, on September 23, 1943.

While in high school, Tom worked part-time at television station in Tyler, where he developed an interest in television that led to his career in advertising and television broadcasting.

Tom attended Tyler Junior College and the University of Houston. After attending college, he became a member of the United States Army, where he trained in the Army Special Forces (Green Berets). He served a one-year tour of duty in the Vietnam. After his military service, Tom became a civilian employee of the United States Department of the Navy, where he served as the Head of Creative Services for the Navy Recruiting Command. He was responsible for producing public service announcements (televised advertisements encouraging men and women to enlist in the Navy). During his career, he was honored as the Navy Recruiting Command Senior Civilian of the Year. Following his retirement from the Federal Government, he traveled internationally providing similar services to the Military Sealift Command.

In his time away from work, Tom was very active in the Springfield Youth Club girls’ soccer program. He was a dedicated coach of traveling soccer teams for each of his two daughters. For many years he served as Director of the of the Washington Area Girls Soccer (WAGS) Tournament, with teams competing from across the United States and Canada. The tournament offers opportunities for talented student athletes from across the country to showcase their talents to approximately 250 college coaches attending the tournament with the potential of earning college soccer scholarships.

In 2015, Tom began attending Word of Life Church in Springfield; he often commented “there are so many nice people there”. He enjoyed the Annual Summer Camps sponsored by Pastor Dan Thompson and Lynda Thompson, especially the outing to the Bible Museum. He was also honored to have been chosen as the Veteran of the Year during the camp.

Tom is survived by his daughters Stephanie Jaros (Kevin) of Springfield, Virginia and Kelly Rash of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; and Kay Rash of Springfield, Virginia.

A celebration of his life will be held at Word of Life Church, 5225 Backlick Road, Springfield, Virginia 22151, on September 1, 2022 at 11:00am

In lieu of flowers donations to the Wounded Warriors Project are appreciated. (www.woundedwarriorproject.org; (877) 832-6997.