Thomas W. Tarkenton III
Nov. 11, 1969 – Jan. 28, 2020
TARKENTON, Thomas William III, 50, of Henrico County passed away Tuesday, January 28, 2020. Thomas was a U.S. Marine Veteran having served his country proudly for six years during Operation Desert Storm. Survivors include his children, Payne, Hannah, Tracy, Adele and Aidyn; fiancée, Wendy Clark and her children, Logan and Brooke; sister, Christine Murray, and brother, James Tarkenton. He was preceded in death by his parents, Sheila and Thomas Tarkenton. A memorial service will be held at 3 pm Saturday, March 7 at Affinity Funeral Service – Richmond Chapel, 2720 Enterprise Pkwy, Richmond, VA 23294. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.
We will miss you Thomas . I will keep your memory alive with the twins .
Kristi,
You won’t know me but I was in a golf school with Tom at pine hurst back in the 90’s and had so much fun with him and enjoyed him so much. I stayed in touch for awhile as he tried so hard at colonial hills . He called me “yankee” as I am a golf pro in the nyc area. Anyway I was shocked when I stumbled on this obit. I was talking about him and his experiences he relayed to us in the marines and decided to look him up. I am so sorry. I can’t help but wonder what happened but no matter the case I hope you and family are well and I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed Tom and laughs we had. He was a great guy. So sorry
Thank you for sharing your memories of Tommy. He shared many of his golf stories from those years. He was was a great man and loved and missed greatly.
I will miss you buddy things will not be the same with your loss.
God speed and condolences to the Tarkenten family.
The Smylie Family,
My dear sweet friend, you’ll always be my huckleberry. Danny and I will never forget you. Thank you for your service to our country. I always enjoyed our talks, and I’m glad you were comfortable enough to confide in me those things that bothered you. Rest well my friend, until we all meet again. “Skoll” Semper Fi, Deo Vindice
Tommy, thank you for your service to this great Country and thank you also for making my dear friend, Wendy, so very happy while you could. You two shared such a special love and I know you’ll be protecting her from above. The world will be a much lonlier place without you! My heart goes out to your family and friends but especially Wendy, as I know you two had so many plans and dreams of a life together.
Rest Easy now. Semper Fi
Our deepest sympathies to the entire Tarkenton family. We very much enjoyed what little time we had with Tom at living history events, he made them even more fun and memorable. You are all in our prayers and in our hearts.
On a long and Lonely highway east of Omaha…
Turn the page!
Desert Storm 1991 Semper Fi ! I love you and will miss you Tom!!! See you on the other side….
I’m so proud to have taught you and so happy to have run into you recently. No one can imagine the profound joy a teacher gets when a student comes up to you years later and reminds you of the great lesson they learned in your class. Tommy wanted me to know that he carried that silly song from French class with him around the world and that I was renowned in Korea because of my rendition of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song in French-he sang it back to me and I actually remembered every word! I am saddened by the loss of such a devoted young man-thank you for your service and thank you for taking the time to share that story with me-I will treasure it!!!
Lest we forget Dear friend
May you cross over the river, and rest
Under the shade of the trees.
God Speed
Thank you Marine and more importantly my friend for picking me and my daughter from the airport in HNL and teaching me how to be a Marine Spouse!! May you Rest In Peace and know your Marine Brothers know have the watch!! SF
Thank you Marine and more importantly my friend for picking me and my daughter from the airport in HNL and teaching me how to be a Marine Spouse!! May you Rest In Peace and know your Marine Brothers now have the watch!! SF
I will miss your gregarious laugh and that huge smile. I will miss those moments around the campfire sharing stories and comradeship. I will be looking for you at the gates of heaven and hope to share a canteen with you once again
Tommy T – you left us far too soon, my friend.
Thank you for serving our country, and many great memories. You brought so much fun to this world, and we will all miss you terribly!
Godspeed until we met again, big guy …..
So sad to hear of this loss. You made a difference, Tommy.
Semper Fi my Brother.
Words can’t describe how sorry that you have left this world. When I found out that you had left this world, I was complete shock. My heart goes out to your family and to Wendy. I remember walking the halls laughing and just talking about whatever. You will be missed. Thank you for your service and defending this great nation. I believe our class made Key Club the reason everyone wanted to join it. As we said during our 4 years at Hermitage, we are Panthers through and through. We will always be Panthers…. Rest In Peace, Tommy T. Forever Class of 87
Good bye my Friend.
One Day Soon
I Will See You in the Fort.
Good bye my Friend.
One Day Soon
I Will See You in the Fort Thomas.
Rest easy sir! Your personality, work ethic, generosity and service will never be forgotten. Seems like yesterday we were walking the halls of Hermitage. Key Club meetings and soccer practice were certainly never the same after Class of ‘87 left. Thank you for your service to our country and the ultimate gift you gave so others may live on. Semper Fi!
Til Vahalla, my brother…. Semper Fi!
To the Tarkenton Family,
I don’t have enough words to express how deeply this has broken my heart! I can’t begin to imagine the hurt and emptiness felt by all of you in the last 3 years. Big Tommy, Sheila and now Little Tommy. Families are precious and we don’t realize it while we have them here. Please embrace one another and be there no matter the cost and lift each other up in times of sorrow. I am proud to say that I have been a family friend for over 30 years and each of you have my prayers in the days and months ahead. May God bless and keep you in His care forever!
“Those special memories of you will always bring a smile. If only I could have you back for just a little while.
Then we could sit and talk again, just like we used to do. You always meant so very much and always will too.
The fact that you’re no longer here will always cause me pain, but you’re forever in my heart until we meet again.”
I will feel you in my heart forever. I love and miss you so much!
For a fellow I only shared one re-enactments/campout with, you sure made a positive impact on me. I’ll miss you, mate, but I’ll know that you’re in a better place now. God speed, Friend. We’ll meet later on.
My condolences for your loss. I was one of Tom’s roommates in 3/3 during his years in HI. I wished that I could have been present at the service. Tom was a great Marine, a good friend, and a good man.
Semper Fi, God Speed.
Man, I hate to hear this. I really enjoyed knowing and working with him.
Thomas was in a number of my films that we made during the reenactments , including Avenel the Motion Picture and the Avenel House documentary, Portrait of a Plantation.
Normally playing a federal (we always need those in the South!), he and the late Jerry Markham always tirelessly gave whenever asked to come out and shoot a scene, even late in the day, and after a hard day on the battlefield, he and his boys would leave the comforts of camp and don their gear once more, and help us get the shots that we needed.
I am so sorry that he has passed away.
His part in my films can be seen on CaptBeauregards Channel on Youtube.