1933-2023
Thomas Albert Gribble was born December 14, 1933, at home in Clackamas, Oregon, and grew up dairying in Molalla, OR, with his parents, Iness Lorena Knox Gribble and Andrew Woodford Gribble, Sr, and 3 older siblings (Andy, Jr. born 1924; Marilyn Joy (Joy, Sis), 1926; and Donald Joseph (Joe), 1930). He graduated from Molalla High School in 1951 and enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1953, training as an aerial navigator and seeing much of the US and Puerto Rico.
He mustered out in spring, 1955, and married Emily Hannah Freeman, MHS ’55, on November 13, 1955 at Smyrna Church in Canby, OR.
Their first child, Lori, was born in Silverton, OR. In 1957, the family moved to Houston, TX, and daughters Cathy and Sheryl were born native Texans! Tom worked full time during the day and attended night school at the University of Houston for seven years to earn his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, using his GI Bill benefits. He was an insurance underwriter for several years in Houston and Dallas, TX.
Then Tom left corporate life and joined his brother Joe, who had founded a small company in Santa Rosa, California, to design and build dairies and livestock handling facilities. The family lived in Santa Rosa from 1965-1971, when the company and Tom’s family moved to Paris, TX. Lori graduated from Paris High School, Class of ’74. Cathy, Class of ’76, and Sheryl, Class of ’79, both graduated from North Lamar High School.
After leaving his brother’s company in about 1976, Tom and Emily had a variety of work experiences. Lori counts that Tom and Emily moved 13 times after she left home for college until they settled in Blue Ridge, TX, in 1994. A sampling: Tom and Emily built and ran a small dairy in Bogata, TX, learning that dairying was even harder in one’s middle age than it had been in their early 20’s. In California Tom was the financial officer or trouble-shooter for companies ranging from a helicopter parts supplier to a start-up winery. He sold furniture at a Dallas mall.
Tom completed his Master of Business Administration from East Texas State University at Commerce, now Texas A&M Commerce. With that qualification, he taught college courses in business and finance in northeast Texas. He and Emily were owner-operators for a series of bookkeeping businesses in northeast Texas. Their last bookkeeping and tax preparation business was in Leonard, TX, which is where Tom found and bought Crossroads Hardware, which became his longest and most satisfying business venture.
Tom always said buying the hardware store was the best decision he ever made, next to marrying Emily! Every day was different. It was a pleasure to help families build and maintain their homes, businesses, farms and ranches, and to see their children grow up through the years. He truly enjoyed helping his customers solve their hardware problems. Tom especially appreciated a challenging plumbing issue!
Throughout his life, Tom enjoyed finding and using new technology, from being an early adopter of personal computers to featuring new products and tools at the hardware store. In the early 1980s, he bought and used one of the earliest ‘portable’ computers, about 25 pounds and suitcase-size, for the bookkeeping business and continued to update over the years.
During their marriage, Tom and Emily traveled to nearly every state in the country by car or small plane. While working with his brother, Tom earned his private pilot’s license with instrument rating. The business owned a small 4-seater plane so company representatives could make business calls on farmers and ranchers across the country, flying directly to their towns and avoiding many hours of driving from and to commercial airports. Some summers while the girls were still living at home, the whole family went on these business trips, taking time for sightseeing along the way. Flying at about 10,000 feet and 200 miles per hour was a wonderful way to see our beautiful country, meet people and see how folks lived in most of the contiguous states.
Tom and Emily took a well-deserved grown-ups-only vacation to Hawai’i in 1969. In later years, they continued to travel in the US, and also got to visit Mexico, Greece, Turkey, Ireland, and the Bahamas. Two favorite sites to visit were always the Texas coast and the Oregon coast.
Tom is survived by Emily, his wife of 68 years; and their three daughters: Lorena (Steve) Charbonneau of Tucson, Arizona, and Cathy Gribble Ries and Sheryl Ann Gribble, both of Blue Ridge, Texas. At the time of his passing, Tom was also survived by five grandchildren: Thomas Pledger (Wendy) serving with the US Army in Germany; Lin Grimm of Tucson, Arizona; Aaron (Claire) Ries of Houston, TX; Robert Ries of Blue Ridge, TX; and Daniel Ries of Allen, TX; six great-grandchildren; and eleven nieces and nephews. He is also survived by one sister-in-law, Joann Gribble of Paris, TX, who is Emily’s sister and the widow of Tom’s brother Joe. Tom was predeceased by his parents, siblings, a niece and a nephew.
A very informal come-and-go visitation and Celebration of Life for Tom and his grandchild Lin Grimm will be held at Crossroads Hardware, 209 US-69, Leonard, TX, 75452, on Sunday, June 16, 2024, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. The family would love to meet with any and all who would like to share memories of Tom and Lin, laughter and perhaps a few tears with us.
Tom’s cremains will be interred at the historic Gribble Pioneer Cemetery in Canby, OR, on Saturday, August 3, 2024, where his father, stepmother and siblings rest. It is just a few miles from the family home of his youth and early adulthood, and near the church where he and Emily were married. Please contact the family if you would like to attend.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations in remembrance of Tom. He believed that the USMC and the GI Bill were two strong contributors to opening the doors to life opportunities for him that adolescent Tom had no idea even existed. He especially wanted all young people to have healthy, plentiful food; access to a good education in the field of their choice, whether trades or academics; and opportunities to contribute to society to the best of their abilities and interests. Please consider contributing to your favorite charity that furthers those goals.