Obituary for Thomas E Voss
Thomas Voss, beloved husband of Katy Gikas-Voss, died at home on Monday, April 5, 2021, with his wife holding his hand. He is survived by his brothers James, Julius, and Warren, as well as two daughters, four grandchildren, eight nieces and nephews, and three special in-laws.
Tom was stationed on bases in Turkey and Spain during his four years in the Navy. He got a kick out of telling people that he never spent even one day on a ship. Due to his covert status as a communications technician, he was able to travel throughout Europe by motorcycle, dressed in leather from head to foot. In between assignments he took advantage of every opportunity to visit historical sites, meet local people, sample the native cuisine, experiment with the language, and in general immerse himself in the heritage and customs of a different way of life. Those were his youthful glory days.
When he returned to the U.S., Tom was accepted into the General Electric Co. apprentice electrician program in Lynn, MA, and attended Franklin Institute at night; he became a master electrician and eventually advanced to the position of repair control technician. When GE eliminated its turbine division twenty-one years later, Tom took a position as maintenance supervisor at Simplex Wire and Cable in Newington, NH. Leaving Simplex when it downsized thirteen years later, he rounded out his career as an electronic assembler of printing presses at Goss International in Durham, NH. Tom had a “maintenance philosophy” built into his DNA. He had a passion for and a compulsion to make things work, to fix them if they broke, and to keep them running. In many ways a metaphor for his approach to life.
When he retired he became active in his community of Barrington, NH, where he and his wife have lived for thirty-three years. He relished having the time and energy to contribute to the town by volunteering at both the transfer station and the food pantry; he also lent his help as needed to the public library, the historical society, Major Waldron’s Sportsmen’s Association, and American Legion Post 114. He so enjoyed the new friends and acquaintances he met as a result of those activities.
Tom pursued many hobbies and interests throughout his life, including scuba diving, ham radio, leathercraft, rocketry, radio-controlled airplane flying, stamp collecting, and marksmanship, and he belonged to several clubs and organizations committed to those pastimes. For many years he was a member of the Northeast Mountain Men, a society of individuals dedicated to preserving and reenacting the heyday of the American fur trapping era, and also to honoring the debt owed to Native Americans and their culture during that time. It can be said that Tom was indeed the antithesis of a couch potato.
There will be no gathering at this time. Those who would like to make a donation in Tom’s memory may contact the Southeast Land Trust of NH (SELT) at P.O. Box 675, Exeter, NH 03833, or visit their online website.
Arrangements are with Purdy Memorial Chapel, 2 Concord Rd., Rt 4, Lee, NH, and to sign our online guestbook, please go to www.purdyfuneralservice.com
Tom was stationed on bases in Turkey and Spain during his four years in the Navy. He got a kick out of telling people that he never spent even one day on a ship. Due to his covert status as a communications technician, he was able to travel throughout Europe by motorcycle, dressed in leather from head to foot. In between assignments he took advantage of every opportunity to visit historical sites, meet local people, sample the native cuisine, experiment with the language, and in general immerse himself in the heritage and customs of a different way of life. Those were his youthful glory days.
When he returned to the U.S., Tom was accepted into the General Electric Co. apprentice electrician program in Lynn, MA, and attended Franklin Institute at night; he became a master electrician and eventually advanced to the position of repair control technician. When GE eliminated its turbine division twenty-one years later, Tom took a position as maintenance supervisor at Simplex Wire and Cable in Newington, NH. Leaving Simplex when it downsized thirteen years later, he rounded out his career as an electronic assembler of printing presses at Goss International in Durham, NH. Tom had a “maintenance philosophy” built into his DNA. He had a passion for and a compulsion to make things work, to fix them if they broke, and to keep them running. In many ways a metaphor for his approach to life.
When he retired he became active in his community of Barrington, NH, where he and his wife have lived for thirty-three years. He relished having the time and energy to contribute to the town by volunteering at both the transfer station and the food pantry; he also lent his help as needed to the public library, the historical society, Major Waldron’s Sportsmen’s Association, and American Legion Post 114. He so enjoyed the new friends and acquaintances he met as a result of those activities.
Tom pursued many hobbies and interests throughout his life, including scuba diving, ham radio, leathercraft, rocketry, radio-controlled airplane flying, stamp collecting, and marksmanship, and he belonged to several clubs and organizations committed to those pastimes. For many years he was a member of the Northeast Mountain Men, a society of individuals dedicated to preserving and reenacting the heyday of the American fur trapping era, and also to honoring the debt owed to Native Americans and their culture during that time. It can be said that Tom was indeed the antithesis of a couch potato.
There will be no gathering at this time. Those who would like to make a donation in Tom’s memory may contact the Southeast Land Trust of NH (SELT) at P.O. Box 675, Exeter, NH 03833, or visit their online website.
Arrangements are with Purdy Memorial Chapel, 2 Concord Rd., Rt 4, Lee, NH, and to sign our online guestbook, please go to www.purdyfuneralservice.com