Thomas Churchill Cogsdell Sr.

Thomas Churchill Cogsdell Sr., 89, of Saraland, AL; passed peacefully in his sleep at his daughter’s home on September 18, 2025. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie Norrie Cogsdell, his son David Norrie Cogsdell, his parents Barney A. Cogsdell, Josie Harris Cogsdell Kennedy, siblings Allene White, Elizabeth Gilmore, Lorene Kennedy, Minnie Bell Kennedy, James Cogsdell, and Barbara Jo Oliver.

Thomas was born on January 12,1936 in West Point, Mississippi on a farm where he lived until the death of his father. He then went from picking cotton to working full time by the age of 12. Before his 15th birthday, he joined the Army National Guard and then the Marines in 1953 at 17 years old. He was quite proud of his military service and always held those that served in high regard. History, peculiarly military history, was always one of his special interests.

Thomas met his lifelong love, Margie at Byrd’s Rollerdrome before he joined the military. When he returned from the Marines, he pursued her, and they were married July 14,1956. They celebrated 65 years of marriage before she passed in 2021. Together, they built quite a good life, always centered around family. He worked hard to be a good provider to his family so that Margie could stay home with the kids. They had 7 children that gave them 17 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren (with 2 more on the way), and 2 great great grandchildren. Their home was always full of love.

Thomas and Marjorie joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1960 and they were baptized by their missionary Stephen Morgan, who remained a lifelong friend. Thomas had a passion for family history, and he volunteered with Margie in the church’s family history center for many years. His relationship with his Heavenly Father and church always remained an important part of his life.

If he was asked to tell you about himself, he would say “I’m just a simple country boy from Mississippi.” But the truth is there was nothing simple about the man. He was seriously intelligent; there was nothing he couldn’t teach himself to do, from CB radios to building computers to HAM radio (N4XVP). He loved his gadgets and had a real knack for them. He was very well read; he was always in the middle of multiple books. He was a lover of stories, both telling them and listening. He never met a stranger; he loved meeting people and had friends across the globe. He loved music from gospel, blue grass, to old time country. He had a wonderful singing voice and used to thrill the kids with his train whistle. He loved planes and took flying lessons. He enjoyed photography and took many pictures of his travels. But most of all he loved big trucks. He said when he was little, he would watch the log trucks coming up and down the road near his home and dream of driving one of the big trucks.

Thomas had many jobs throughout the years. He started out working on a laundry truck, he was an insurance salesman, he drove a city bus in Mobile, Alabama for a number of years, but he spent the most time behind the wheel of semi-trucks. The Big Wheel from Mobile, as he was known on the CB radio, drove for about 40 years, and retired from Yellow Freight in 1999. Always the hard worker, he went on working in retirement driving charter buses, and then a shuttle at a local college campus. His work ethic was inspiring, just one of the values he modeled for his family.

Thomas’s impact will last for generations, and he will be greatly missed by those that love him. He is survived by his children Thomas C. Cogsdell, Jr. (TC), Pamela Newberry (Luther), Stephen Cogsdell (Michelle), A. Leigh Knight (Torrey), Richard Cogsdell (Djoni), Stephanie Hayes (Stephen), his grandchildren Tonia Solomon (Matthew), Thomas Cogsdell III, Melissa Hudson (Chad), Melanie Ziebach (Joseph), Joshua Jones, Dustin Cogsdell (Eve), Samantha Gould (Cyrus), Casey Cogsdell (Blake), Chase Cogsdell, David (Cogsdell) Stark (Nancy), Christopher Cogsdell (Nicole), McKenzie Knight Childs (Cortland), William Knight, Norrie Cogsdell, Kayden Cogsdell, Noah Hayes, and Ainsley Hayes, his great grandchildren Hailey Solomon, Morgan Solomon, Makenzi Cogsdell, Thomas Cogsdell IV, Kaleb Hudson (Ashley), Jacob Hudson, Matthew Hudson, Emily Sharpe, Landon Ziebach, Jasmine Jones, Joshua Jones, Aubrie Sons, Sophia Sons, Lucas Sons, his great great grandchildren Waylon Hudson and Mason Hudson, his brother William Cogsdell, and many adored nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (5520 Zeigler Blvd, Mobile, AL 36608) at 10:00 am, memorial service will be at 11:00 am. Thomas will be laid to rest at Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery (34904 AL-225, Spanish Fort, AL 36577) at 2:00 pm.