Thomas James Garrahy, Jr.'s Obituary
Thomas Garrahy Jr., loving and devoted husband, father, and grandfather, age 87, entered into God's Kingdom on October 17, 2023. He was born on February 24th, 1936 to Julia Costello and Thomas J. Garrahy, Sr.
Tom attended Dickinson High School and Panzer College. High School yearbook caption under his photo read, “All the girls go GOO-GOO over GAGA!"
Tom started playing the drums at 11 years old and played them his entire life. He joined the St. Vincent Cadets drum corps in Bayonne, NJ until 1955 and during his nine year service with the United States Marine Corps he was assigned U.S.M.C. Drum and Bugle Corps in Washington, DC. With the U.S.M.C . Drums Corps he traveled all over the country playing at major football games and events. Thomas also wrote music for different corps to play, became an instructor in the Drums Corp and became a Drum and Bugle corps Judge and was a member of the National Judges Association (NJA.) Thomas was inducted into the Maryland Drum and Bugle Corps Hall of Fame.
While in the U.S.M.C. Drum Corps Tom had the honor of playing for President John F. Kennedy, Jr. and he even wrote a specific piece of music to be played for the President. A newspaper article covering the event said about Tom's music "The President obviously enjoyed the precision drilling and pageantry and even jounced in his leather chair to an exceptionally jazzy routine by the Drums and Bugle Corps."
In 1958 Tom married his longtime girlfriend (who was also in the St. Vincent's Color Guard) Patricia Hansen and together they built a loving family with four children. December of 2023 will mark Thomas and Patricia's 65th wedding anniversary.
In civilian life Tom worked for the Bristol-Myers Co. and in 1972 was awarded the "Salesman of the Year" Award. He then in 1984 joined Ray-O-Vac and shortly thereafter won their "Salesman of the Year" Award and was promoted to Division Sales Manager. Tom retired from Ray-O-Vac after twenty four years of dedicated service.
Thomas was also a member of the American Legion for many years and in 1976 he became the Wisconsin Post 333 Commander for the American Legion. He took his duties as the Commander very seriously and was greatly honored by this post. He later became a member of Post 7 in Annapolis, Maryland.
Thomas has resided in Jersey City, New Jersey, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and in several locations in Maryland - Middletown, Frederick, and his current residence of Heritage Harbor in Annapolis. Heritage Harbor is a very active retirement community and it was here that Thomas picked up his drums sticks for the first time in over twenty years to be the drummer for many of Mary Ellen O'Brien's musical productions. Thomas was also the chairman of the Bingo committee for 11 years and was nicknamed "The Gentle Giant." He worked well with friend Bud the D.J. and orchestrated the change of the name of the Friday Night dances to the "Champagne Dance".
Thomas was a gentle and kind man that always showed respect for those around him and in turn earned the respect of many that he interacted with. He always believed that being calm and diplomatic was the right way to approach situations and was happy to share a funny joke or a story with you anytime. He loved Notre Dame and Washington Redskins football, and packing up and going camping on the weekends. For Thomas cooking big meals on an outdoor grill made him so happy. One year while living in Wisconsin there was a big snowstorm the day before Thanksgiving. He had planned on cooking the turkey on the grill so he spent the day literally shoveling through several feet of snow in order to get to the grill to use. This is the true personification of his dedication and love that he had in his military career, his drum career, his retail career, and with his family.
Thomas is survived by his wife Pat, his sister Judy, brother-in-law Don, nephews Donald and Tommy, niece Julie, children Michele, son-in-law Tony, Tommy, daughter-in-law Patty, Steve, Brian, and grandchildren Maxwell, Gabrielle, Ian and Gwendolyn.
Celebration of Life services will be held Friday, November 3rd at NOON at Lasting Tributes 814 Bestgate Rd, Annapolis, MD 21401 to be followed by Funeral services 1:45pm at Crownsville Veterans Cemetery 1122 Sunrise Beach Rd, Crownsville, MD 21032.
In lieu of flowers the family kindly asks that donations be sent to:
Heritage Harbor Chorus: c/o Penny Johansen 2508 Bollard Rd, Annapolis MD, 21041
Hospice of the Chesapeake: www.hospicechesapeake.org 90 Ritchie Hwy Pasadena MD 21122
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