Thomas Loyd Lawson, Jr.

Thomas Lawson, Jr. was born July 6, 1935 in the coal mining company town of Pardee, Virginia. He returned to his Heavenly Father on Monday March 13, 2017 in the company of his wife and loving family. Tom was a man of great character, strong integrity and endless charity. He was deeply committed to his family, his faith and his Savior Jesus Christ. He was born into a family of coal miners in Southwest Virginia. He loved the mountains of Virginia and the coal mining communities of his youth. He often returned to Pardee with family and friends to celebrate his mining roots. Tom left Virginia in 1954 to join the United States Air Force. The military took him far from home to the distant Territory of Alaska. It was there that in 1957 he met and married his bride, Janis Pearson . They just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 1, 2017. They were blessed with four children. After a short time at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio, Tom left the military and began a successful civilian career. He had a variety of jobs during his life, including sales for a trucking company. He may have been most proud of his sunset career role as a post-op medical therapist. He loved helping people and he felt he made a true difference in the medical field. It's hard to say what Tom enjoyed the most in life because he loved everything. He had a voracious appetite for learning and was always learning something new and interesting. He was an inventor, a fisherman, a hunter, a builder, a photographer, a craftsman, a landscaper and an all- around home improvement enthusiast. He had a huge affinity for model trains (N-gauge), birds, bird feeders and sweet treats. Banana pudding, Johnny cakes and peanut butter candy were just three of his kitchen specialties. He also loved to read. At the time of his death his ""to-do"" reading list was two pages long! He was an early riser, always doing, and rarely at rest - he always had to be busy! Tom's faith and religion were most important to him. He served many years in his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in a variety of positions, from home teacher, to primary teacher to Bishop. He loved the Lord and he loved serving his brothers and sisters. Tom survived by his wife Janis, his children, Diane Larson (Larrance), Steven, Nancy Schoon (Michael) and Glen (Ana). He has five grandchildren who he called his ""ELVES"". The grandchildren are Erik Larson (Andrea), Lauren Ware (Nicholas), Veronica Lawson-Vilches, Emma Levesque and Silvia Lawson-Vilches. At the time of his death he had two great grandchildren, Carter Allen Larson and Nora Grace Ware. Another great grandson is due any day now. We will miss him the remainder of our lives and can't wait to see him again in the eternities. ""Night, see ya in the morning, love ya Dad!"" In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation at pdf.org. A Visitation will be held on Thursday, March 16, 2017 beginning at 6:00-8:00 PM at Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 7577 West 80th Avenue, Arvada, Colorado. Interment will be held on Friday, March 17, 2017 at 9:00 AM at Fort Logan National Cemetery, 3698 South Sheridan Boulevard, Denver, Colorado. A Memorial Service will follow at 11:00 AM at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Arvada Stake Center, 7080 Independence Street, Arvada, Colorado. Please share your memories of Thomas and condolences with his family by signing the guest book below.