1962-2025

Born in 1962 to a considerate young mother he would never meet, little Tommy was fondly adopted by affectionate parents of San Mateo, California. Glenn Pearman Smith, World War II veteran/ college chancellor, and Kathleen Hudson Smith, school teacher, welcomed Tom into their family.

As a boy summering at a local Christian camp, Tom asked Jesus into his heart and life. The forest staged his youth with reveled hunting trips and woodsman's craft alongside his beloved "Unc" Rans Pearman. During school, he passionately played football and competed in wrestling. In May 1980, his senior, Tom, at 17, opted to quit high school and join the Army because his teachers “didn’t know what they were talking about.”

At Fort Benning, Georgia, Tom earned his jump wings. A paratrooper with Troop

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