"Life is a jest
And all things show it.
I thought so once,
And now I know it."
That was the quotation beneath Daddy's photograph in the 1942 Norman Baptist Junior College Yearbook. Tom Hamby enjoyed life more than anyone I've ever known, and it was impossible to be around him and NOT enjoy one's own life. Every outing with Papa Tom was an adventure: there were always strangers to meet, jokes to tell and stories to share.
Daddy was the son of a sharecropper who died in 1930, leaving a widow and seven children. His aunt Ella Leveritt, a Methodist missionary to China, paid for most of the cost of Daddy's (and his baby brother, Boyce's) tuition to Norman Park Baptist Junior College in Norman Park, Georgia. That's where Daddy met Mom. After serving as a Marine bomber pilot (VMB-611) in the Philippine Islands, Daddy used the GI Bill to complete his B. A. at the University of Tampa.
He and Mom moved back to Georgia after his graduation. They raised three children, uncountable dogs, a few cats, and a parrot, in Moultrie, Colquitt County.
Daddy was a life insurance salesman and the owner/operator of several defensive driving schools. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Moultrie, the V. F. W., and the Moose Club. He was devoted to his community, his family, and his (and my) animals.
And he was devoted to the men with whom he served in VMB-611. He attended all of their reunions and always hosted the Hospitality Suite--which he stocked with boiled peanuts, roasted pecans, and moonshine (as well as legal beverages.) The squadron was having its bi-annual reunion in October 1995 when Papa Tom died (at home on his beloved sofa, of pancreatic cancer.)
I remember sending a telegram to the fellas at the reunion that said, "Tom Hamby died as he lived, with courage and with humor." I wouldn't mind having that as my epitaph.
And all things show it.
I thought so once,
And now I know it."
That was the quotation beneath Daddy's photograph in the 1942 Norman Baptist Junior College Yearbook. Tom Hamby enjoyed life more than anyone I've ever known, and it was impossible to be around him and NOT enjoy one's own life. Every outing with Papa Tom was an adventure: there were always strangers to meet, jokes to tell and stories to share.
Daddy was the son of a sharecropper who died in 1930, leaving a widow and seven children. His aunt Ella Leveritt, a Methodist missionary to China, paid for most of the cost of Daddy's (and his baby brother, Boyce's) tuition to Norman Park Baptist Junior College in Norman Park, Georgia. That's where Daddy met Mom. After serving as a Marine bomber pilot (VMB-611) in the Philippine Islands, Daddy used the GI Bill to complete his B. A. at the University of Tampa.
He and Mom moved back to Georgia after his graduation. They raised three children, uncountable dogs, a few cats, and a parrot, in Moultrie, Colquitt County.
Daddy was a life insurance salesman and the owner/operator of several defensive driving schools. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Moultrie, the V. F. W., and the Moose Club. He was devoted to his community, his family, and his (and my) animals.
And he was devoted to the men with whom he served in VMB-611. He attended all of their reunions and always hosted the Hospitality Suite--which he stocked with boiled peanuts, roasted pecans, and moonshine (as well as legal beverages.) The squadron was having its bi-annual reunion in October 1995 when Papa Tom died (at home on his beloved sofa, of pancreatic cancer.)
I remember sending a telegram to the fellas at the reunion that said, "Tom Hamby died as he lived, with courage and with humor." I wouldn't mind having that as my epitaph.
"Life is a jest
And all things show it.
I thought so once,
And now I know it."
That was the quotation beneath Daddy's photograph in the 1942 Norman Baptist Junior College Yearbook. Tom Hamby enjoyed life more than anyone I've ever known, and it was impossible to be around him and NOT enjoy one's own life. Every outing with Papa Tom was an adventure: there were always strangers to meet, jokes to tell and stories to share.
Daddy was the son of a sharecropper who died in 1930, leaving a widow and seven children. His aunt Ella Leveritt, a Methodist missionary to China, paid for most of the cost of Daddy's (and his baby brother, Boyce's) tuition to Norman Park Baptist Junior College in Norman Park, Georgia. That's where Daddy met Mom. After serving as a Marine bomber pilot (VMB-611) in the Philippine Islands, Daddy used the GI Bill to complete his B. A. at the University of Tampa.
He and Mom moved back to Georgia after his graduation. They raised three children, uncountable dogs, a few cats, and a parrot, in Moultrie, Colquitt County.
Daddy was a life insurance salesman and the owner/operator of several defensive driving schools. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Moultrie, the V. F. W., and the Moose Club. He was devoted to his community, his family, and his (and my) animals.
And he was devoted to the men with whom he served in VMB-611. He attended all of their reunions and always hosted the Hospitality Suite--which he stocked with boiled peanuts, roasted pecans, and moonshine (as well as legal beverages.) The squadron was having its bi-annual reunion in October 1995 when Papa Tom died (at home on his beloved sofa, of pancreatic cancer.)
I remember sending a telegram to the fellas at the reunion that said, "Tom Hamby died as he lived, with courage and with humor." I wouldn't mind having that as my epitaph.
And all things show it.
I thought so once,
And now I know it."
That was the quotation beneath Daddy's photograph in the 1942 Norman Baptist Junior College Yearbook. Tom Hamby enjoyed life more than anyone I've ever known, and it was impossible to be around him and NOT enjoy one's own life. Every outing with Papa Tom was an adventure: there were always strangers to meet, jokes to tell and stories to share.
Daddy was the son of a sharecropper who died in 1930, leaving a widow and seven children. His aunt Ella Leveritt, a Methodist missionary to China, paid for most of the cost of Daddy's (and his baby brother, Boyce's) tuition to Norman Park Baptist Junior College in Norman Park, Georgia. That's where Daddy met Mom. After serving as a Marine bomber pilot (VMB-611) in the Philippine Islands, Daddy used the GI Bill to complete his B. A. at the University of Tampa.
He and Mom moved back to Georgia after his graduation. They raised three children, uncountable dogs, a few cats, and a parrot, in Moultrie, Colquitt County.
Daddy was a life insurance salesman and the owner/operator of several defensive driving schools. He was a member of First Baptist Church of Moultrie, the V. F. W., and the Moose Club. He was devoted to his community, his family, and his (and my) animals.
And he was devoted to the men with whom he served in VMB-611. He attended all of their reunions and always hosted the Hospitality Suite--which he stocked with boiled peanuts, roasted pecans, and moonshine (as well as legal beverages.) The squadron was having its bi-annual reunion in October 1995 when Papa Tom died (at home on his beloved sofa, of pancreatic cancer.)
I remember sending a telegram to the fellas at the reunion that said, "Tom Hamby died as he lived, with courage and with humor." I wouldn't mind having that as my epitaph.
