Wilmeth
Submitted by Daingerfield1 on
On January 5, 2015, Thomas Sharpe Wilmeth, 101, of Daingerfield, Texas, passed away peacefully at his home. Visitation will be held at First United Methodist Church in Daingerfield, Sunday, January 11, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Funeral services will take place Monday, January 12 at 10 a.m. at the church. He will be laid to rest at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis Indiana on Wednesday, January 14. Tom Wilmeth was born October 2, 1913, in Chicago, Illinois, to Leona Sharpe and Delbert Olen Wilmeth. In WWI, Tom’s father, Delbert, served in Europe for several years as a Captain in the Infantry, US Army. During this time, Tom’s grandmother lived with Tom and his mother to help care for him. Both women were math teachers and saw after Tom’s education before he began school. Tom was a quick learner and became very skilled in mathematics. As a result, he skipped three grades and graduated from Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, when he was fifteen. Tom was a life-long entrepreneur. His first business was selling hot-roasted peanuts for five cents a sack, door to door, in Indianapolis. This later evolved into selling strawberries (25 cents a quart!). When he was fifteen, his interest and skill in electronics allowed him to open up a business fixing radios, called Tom Wilmeth Radio Repair. Tom joined the Boy Scouts, and continued up through the ranks to Eagle Scout. Over the years, Tom has been a longtime supporter of the Boy Scouts, and credits them with some of the multi-faceted education he received from earning merit badges in such things as plumbing, electricity, survival skills, swimming, and others. Tom enrolled at Purdue University when he was 16 years old. As a senior, he was the business manager of the yearbook, the Debris, earning $1100 for his share of the profit. While at Purdue, he was a member of Alpha Chi Rho, Tau Beta Pi, and Eta Kappa Nu. He graduated magna cum laude at age 21 with a degree in electrical engineering, at a time when only 2% of America’s population attended college. He learned to sail on the Charles River in Boston while living there for a brief period. This would become an enjoyment for the rest of his life. He sailed with his son until age 99. Tom believed in exercise and played tennis, used Indian clubs and swam to stay fit.Tom’s philosophy of life is that “the real issue is to develop the ability to train and teach oneself to learn. This way, one can teach oneself and continue learning and growing throughout life.” He worked for several companies during the Depression and WWII, including IBM, Allis Chalmers, and A.O. Smith Company. In 1949, he and his brother, Harvey, started their own company, Scot Industries, Inc., in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first years were pretty rough;insolvency was always near. A less determined person would have given up. Success came slowly. However, Tom’s engineering and design skills allowed the company to produce better and less expensive products than his competitors. Over the last forty-five years, Tom and his son, Steven, have built the company into an international business with thirteen plants and a world-wide reputation for quality and technology leadership in the specialty tubing and precision steel bar business.
A patent holder, Tom never ceased learningabout and developing new designs, concepts, and ideas. He came to work every day until the end, excited about new challenges and opportunities. He never stopped thinking, and he never retired. Tom was a long-time philanthropist, contributing to education, the Mayo Clinic, and the Boy Scouts, among many others. He attributed his own success to the quality education he received from his mother and grandmother, the public schools of Indianapolis, and Purdue University. His philanthropy was intended to give similar opportunities to others. He was a selfless and generous person, never seeking personal publicity or attention.
In 2014, he received an honorary Ph.D. from Purdue University in Engineering Information Literacy; the Distinguished Eagle Scout award; the Lion’s Club Man of the Year award; and was honored by the Texas state legislature with a Thomas Wilmeth Day designation.
Surviving are his wife, Benette Laiken Wilmeth, Daingerfield, Texas; his sister, Rosemary Wilmeth Reeves, of Sequim, WA; his son, Steven Lytton Wilmeth and wife Victoria Berglund, Longview, Texas; daughter, Suzanne Wilmeth Anderson, Cheyenne, Wyoming. He is also survived by three granddaughters, Catherine Wilmeth and husband, Keith Taylor, of Somerset, England; Jennifer Wilmeth and husband, Ashley Keller, of Chicago, Illinois; and Melissa Wilmeth and husband, Ehsan Iraniparast, of Los Angeles, California; one grandson, Whittaker Anderson and wife Kate of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Tom is also survived by great-grandchildren; Chloe, Thomas, and EllaTaylor, of England; Olivia, Natalie, and Elliott Keller of Chicago; Margot and Theodore Iraniparast of Los Angeles. On his wife’s side, he is survived by Thomas Laiken, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and his son, Adam; Amy Laiken and Max Kalkstein, of Easton, Connecticut, and their children, Ava and Eli. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Margaret Wilmeth, and his brother, Harvey Wilmeth.
Donations made be made to the Boy Scouts of America, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and Purdue University Library Active Learning Center. An online guestbook may be signed at www. reeder-davis.com.
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