Thomas Wesley Ham

Thomas Wesley Ham (64) passed away, suddenly, on August 17, 2023.  He died doing what he liked best, playing golf.  He was born on November 14, 1958, in Lyons, Illinois to Florence Blanche (McCabe) Ham and Uriel Wesley Ham. 

His family later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and then to Madison, Connecticut in 1969.  He was active as a boy, fishing, sailing, sports, Band, competing in chess tournaments and with the Boy Scouts, where he attained the rank of Eagle Scout.  Tom attended Daniel Hand High School, in Madison, Connecticut (class of 1977), Salisbury Prep School, in Connecticut and then graduated from Sanford High School in Maine.

After high school, Tom enlisted in the United States Air Force from 1980 to 1984 and reserves until 1986.  He reached the rank of Sergeant and became proficient as a Cryptologic Linguist Specialist and then Electronic Intelligence Operations Specialist.  He worked for Lockheed-Martin from 1985 to 2013, as a Senior Operations Research Analyst.  During this time, he spent four years working to support their operations overseas. 

From 2014 to 2023, Tom worked at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, on safety and Mission Assurance contracts and as a Senior Information Assurance Engineer.  In his first year there, he received the 2015 Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Directorate Award of Excellence.  This award recognizes outstanding individuals in all career fields, by their peers, who are early career SMA employees or employees who have transferred to the SMA Directorate within three years or less. He had just retired, at the time of his death.

Tom was a people person, who loved spending time with friends and family.  He will be remembered by many for his extreme generosity.  He was a member of the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion, in Laurel, Maryland, and an active member of their Executive Committee, in the past.  He enjoyed golfing and going to baseball games with friends.  He also took up his boyhood love of fishing again, during the covid years.

Tom leaves behind his brother, William Ham (Maddalena) and his sister, Catherine (Ham) Hautala (Eino).  He also leaves behind a newly discovered daughter, Susan Roka (nee: Adams), who he had not had the chance to meet in person. He was a loving uncle and leaves six nieces and nephews:  Camilla (Ham) Lopez (Marcos), Brighid (Ham) Rose, Gabriel Ham, Nathan Hautala (Kiah), Jillian (Hautala) Johnson (Nick) and Alison (Hautala) Cardinale (Mike). He also leaves four great-nieces and two great-nephews:  Frederico Lopez, Selena Lopez, Luca Lopez, Annika Hautala, Hailey Johnson and Kylie Johnson.

Tom was preceded in death by both of his parents.

A memorial service will take place at Donaldson Funeral Home of Clarksville, P.A., 12540 Clarksville Pike, Clarksville, MD 21029, on Saturday, September 9, 2023, at 10 AM.

Interment will be at a later time, at West Cemetery in Madison, Connecticut, next to his parents.

Friends and family are welcome to come to the American Legion Post 60, after the memorial service for lunch and to share memories with friends and family. (2 Main Street, Laurel, MD 20707)

Memorial Contributions can be donated in Tom’s name to:

Locks of Love (locksoflove.org) or mail to: Locks of Love,234 Southern Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 3340

OR

The American Legion Post 60    mail to:  2 Main Street, Laurel, MD 20707

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