He was born March 11, 1923, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Marie and Roy Harkness, the second of four children. He was pre-deceased by his wife June in 2016, older brother Jim of Wilmington, Delaware, and twin sisters Margo Crozier of Atlanta, Georgia and Lita Nelson of Boston, Massachusetts.
His early years were spent in Caripito and Maracaibo, Venezuela where his father was employed by Standard Oil Company of New Jersey. The family eventually returned to Reading and Tom graduated from Reading High School and subsequently graduated from Albright College with a degree in Economics.
Tom served three years in the Army during WWII where he served as an anti-tank gunner attached to an infantry regiment and earned a Combat Infantry badge. He served as Corporal in France and Germany in the European Theater as well as the Philippines and Japan in the Pacific Theater.
In 1952, he was employed by Western Electric of AT&T in various supervisory positions for 33 years until his retirement in 1985.
Tom’s interests were varied and were centered around those of his wife, June, and their children. There were many happy memories of the activities of his daughter, Missy, and her friends at the stable where she kept her horse; oldest son, Jeff, and all his friends on the baseball teams for which he played and youngest son, Chris, whose passion was the outdoors- hunting and fishing.
As a former member of Faith Lutheran Church, Tom spent many years in the choir and Church Council.
Both Tom and June were heavily involved in the music of the Big Bands and smaller jazz groups of that wonderful era. Tom played the saxophone in various bands and his wife was a professional singer with Hal McIntyre. They had great stories to share about the places they worked and the musicians they met.
Tom leaves behind his daughter Missy Goodwin (Tom) of Prairie Village, Kansas son Jeff (wife Olga) of Guayllabamba, Ecuador and son Chris of Portland, OR. He leaves six grandchildren: Adrienne Goodwin (Kim) of Portland, OR, Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter (Tyler) of Chicago, IL, Alex Elrod of Kansas City, KS , Collin Harkness of Kansas City, MO and Hannah and Miles Harkness of Portland, OR. He also leaves behind three great-grandsons Jake and Rhys Wilson-Goodwin of Portland, OR, Cain Elrod and great-granddaughter, Dany Elrod of Kansas City, KS.
A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 7851 West 119 Street, Overland Park, Kansas on Friday, September 6 at 11:00am. There will be a Visitation from 10:00am to 11:00am at the church. Private family burial will be at Mount Moriah Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Tom requests donations to Holy Cross Lutheran Church.
Dad, we love you and will miss your laughter, your stories and your words of wisdom. Until we meet again……..
