Thomas James Marty, of Downey, California, was born on March 10, 1952 at the Lutheran Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio to John and Dorothea (Naumann) Marty. He was baptized on March 23, 1952 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Cleveland, Ohio. His Godparents were Martha (Naumann) Richter, Rev. John Naumann, and Anna (Naumann) Frecke. He graduated from Faith Lutheran School in Whittier, California and was confirmed at Faith Lutheran Church in June of 1966. Tom graduated from California High School in Whittier, California in June of 1970. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Concordia Teachers College in Seward, Nebraska in May of 1974. Tom was an active member of the youth group (Walther League) at Faith, Whittier. Tom was an outstanding student-athlete in both high school and college. At California High School he was the MVP in both football and track (League Champion in the 100-yard dash). At Concordia University Nebraska he started every game for four years at left cornerback, was team captain and was voted Mr. Football his senior year. In his last two games, he played both ways and in his first game as a running back he was awarded the Omaha World-Herald State College Football Player of the Week for both his offensive and defensive performance. He ran the sprints in track and was a member of the mile relay team that set a school record that lasted several years. While at Concordia he enjoyed being a big brother to one of the elementary students at St. John, and also participated in small group Bible studies. He read his Bible cover to cover seven times or more and also relied on his hymnal (TLH) for his devotional life. He enjoyed going out to breakfast, swimming and the beach, shooting pool, shooting baskets, and running pass routes with his siblings. He really liked running fast and in his later years taking long walks. Tom passed away on February 1, 2021 in Downey, California at the age of 68 years, 10 months and 21 days. He is survived by his brother Larry Marty & sister in law, Sherrie in St. Charles, Missouri, his sister, Marcia (Marty) Burbeck & brother in law, John in Gardnerville, Nevada, brother Martin Marty and sister in law Kae Evensen in St. Paul, Minnesota, and sister Lisa (Marty) Flaxbeard in Bennington, Nebraska, nieces and nephews Amy Marty, Matthew Marty, James Marty, Emily Marty, Helene Flaxbeard, and Paul Flaxbeard, great-nephews and nieces Julianna, Micah, Kaleb, Karis, Zoe and Logan Marty. Tom was preceded in death by his parents, John and Dorothea Marty.
Memorials in lieu of flowers:
Concordia University Nebraska - Courtney & Connie Meyer Church Worker Scholarship Fund - development@cune.edu
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod - Foreign Missions - Serving the Lord in Eastern Africa - Rev. Jonathan Clausing - lcms.org
NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance On Mental Illness)- www.namimn.org
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