Thomas Wayne (Tommy) Pulliam, age 85, went to be with his Lord and Savior April 6, 2023, surrounded by his loving family. Tommy was the son of John Foster Pulliam and Esther Wilson Pulliam, deceased, and the brother of William Brown Pulliam, Adele Griffin, Daffin Davis, John Foster Pulliam, Jr., all deceased, and Mary Virginia Woody, of Lawrenceville, Georgia.
The service for his Celebration of Life will be held Monday, April 10th, 2023 at 11am at Fuller Memorial Baptist Church with burial to follow at Roselawn Burial Park. Memorials may be made to Fuller Memorial Baptist Church
Tommy graduated from Martinsville High School as a standout in football and baseball. He completed one year of postgraduate study at Fork Union Military as a starter in football and baseball.
In 1959, Tommy married his high school sweetheart Lynda Wyatt and was the proud father of daughter, Vicky Pulliam Nelson and son, Timothy Wayne Pulliam, and grandfather of Timothy Alan Robertson II, Olivia Robertson Baylor, Sydney Jordan Pulliam, and Trent Wyatt Pulliam.
Tommy loved and served his Lord, his family, his community and his country. He became a member of Fuller Memorial Baptist Church in 1960 where he was Treasurer for over fifty years. In addition, he was chairman of the Deacon Board, Youth Sunday School teacher, Royal Ambassador leader, and lay speaker. During his thirty-five years of service with E. I. DuPont Company, he and a friend Co-founded the Ridgeway District Rescue Squad of which he served as president for eight years. He was a long-time member and certified EMT. During that time he was instrumental in building the current rescue squad station.
Tommy enjoyed helping others and was extremely passionate about the causes that were important to him. For example, he was just as generous to strangers as to his own friends. Tommy was very involved in community engagements and worked the voting polls for many years. As a member of Lynwood Country Club, he enjoyed golfing and the camaraderie of his many friends. One of his great loves was baseball. Tommy coached Little League, Pony League, and American Legion. Moreover, he played in the DuPont softball league.
Another one of his great loves was farming. He purchased a farm in Hog Wallow, built a barn, raised a few livestock, and planted a large garden there for many years. Blazer was the family Appaloosa who lived to be thirty-seven years old. Tommy was an avid animal lover and rescued many homeless dogs and puppies.
After retiring, Tommy developed a love of collecting Coca-Cola memorabilia, including tens of thousands of bottles. While collecting these bottles, he began to collect antiques. In town, he had a favorite coffee spot where he loved to socialize with his community.
Tommy managed to find time for fishing and refurbishing solid wood furniture. He inherited this talent from his father who was a mechanical engineer for Hooker Furniture, as well as furniture designer.
With all of these activities, he still attended every one of Tim's ball games and each of Vicky's choral concerts; including practices and rehearsals. As you can surmise, Tommy was a loving husband, dedicated father, but above all, a servant to the Lord. One of his final quotes was "serving the Lord; that's what life's all about."
