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Combes, Tom (1933-2014)

COMBES, CHINDLUND, CRANE, KOTH, RADKE, JACOBSEN, SCHMIDT

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 10/7/2014 at 11:11:03

Tom Combes
Nov 14, 1933 - Sep 13, 2014

Rembrandt, Iowa

The youngest of four children, Marlin Thomas “Tom” Combes was born on November 14, 1933, to Clarence and Opal (Chindlund) Combes. Growing up in Alta, Iowa, he attended Alta Community Schools. On June 21, 1952, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and trained in San Diego, California. Deployed to Yokosuka, Japan, during the Korean Conflict, he was assigned to refuel ships coming into port. Tom returned Stateside in December, 1954, and was, subsequently, commissioned to the U.S.S. Missouri in Bremerton, Washington. His duties there included working as an administrative assistant and doing whatever those in command assigned him to do. Honorably released in January, 1955, he remained in the Reserves until June 1960 when he was honorably discharged from military service.

Tom met Donna Fay Crane in 1956. They married on October 4, 1957. To this union, four children were born: Kim (Diane), of Colo, Iowa, Kent (Lori), of Hartley, Iowa, Kelly (deceased), and Kristi, of Rembrandt, Iowa.

Tom eventually moved his family to Rembrandt in early 1966 where he, in time, initiated his own business, Tom’s Plumbing and Heating. After retiring from his business in 1988, he and Donna migrated north to Rochester, Minnesota. There, they managed the Delano Motel where they met many wonderful people who became lifelong friends. After Tom and Donna returned to Rembrandt for health reasons, Tom was employed by Ranco in Sioux Rapids from 1990-2001.

An active member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Rembrandt, Tom greatly looked forward to Sunday mornings when he could share in fellowship with the congregation. A gregarious individual, he delighted in conversing with family and friends. During his twilight years, he, especially, enjoyed attending the annual reunions of the Navy men who had served aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. As a widower, he traveled across the nation to these events with his good buddy, Doug Chase. Together, they took yearly adventures to new destinations to reacquaint themselves with old friends and to make new ones.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Donna; his son, Kelly; one sister-in-law, Marilyn Combes; and two brothers-in-law, Harlan Koth and Willis Radke.

Tom is survived by his three children, Kim, Kent and Kris; eleven grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mavis (Lauren) Jacobsen, of Dundas, Minnesota, and Doris (Cliff) Schmidt, of Storm Lake, Iowa; and an older brother, Donald Combes, of Omaha; as well as by many nieces and nephews and a myriad of friends made during his eighty years on this Earth.

Tom's memory will live on in the minds and hearts of all whose lives he touched.

Visitation Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Rembrandt Iowa, Saturday, September 20th, 2014, at 10:00am.
Funeral Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Rembrandt Iowa, Saturday, September 20th, 2014, at 11:00am.
Burial Lone Tree Cemetery, Sioux Rapids Iowa, Saturday, September 20th, 2014.
Military Rites American Legion Post #394, Sioux Rapids Iowa, Saturday, September 20th, 2014.

Copyright © 2014, Nicklas D. Jensen Funeral Homes


 

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