Thomas David May

This photo was taken about 1987 while coaching and teaching at Sanford Independent School District.

Thomas  David “Tom” May was born June 10, 1949 in the Capitol Hill General Hospital in Oklahoma City. His father, Robert, was a cleaner and spotter in dry cleaning and his mother, Erma “Louise” was a housewife.

When Tom was two years old, his dad took a job at Phillips Petroleum Company in Phillips, Texas so Tom, his brother, Donald, and his sister, Diane, with their parents found a new home in the Texas Panhandle. They would remain in Phillips, Texas until Tom graduated from high school.

Tom attended his first twelve years of school in Phillips and graduated from Phillips High School on May 26, 1967. While attending Phillips schools, he was active in the Phillips High School Concert and Marching Band, played sports and was manager of several football and basketball teams. He also enjoyed Boy Scouts and an important moment came in 1964 when he earned his Eagle Scout Award. Beginning a membership that would last the rest of his life, Tom was baptized in the Church of Christ.

After graduation from high school, Tom attended two years at Frank Phillips College and earned his Associate of Arts degree on June 1, 1969. While attending FPC, he enjoyed riding and taking care of his horse, Tracy, given to him on his birthday from his parents. Tom was very active with riding and the group he was associated with took many trips and play-days. It was a hobby he would talk about for many years later. He worked with a fencing company during the summer months and up to twenty years later, he still enjoyed showing his family the fences that he helped build that were still standing in the Borger area.

On May 6, 1972, Tom received his Bachelor of Science degree from West Texas State University in Canyon. Working part time as a manager in the Gibsons store in Canyon, Tom resigned when he found his first teaching –coaching job in Tucumcari, New Mexico. He left Tucumcari in May, 1974 when an opportunity became available to teach and coach in Gruver for one year. He talked about friends he left there many years later. Teaching in New Mexico did not qualify him for the teacher retirement that he could get in Texas, so he was very glad when a job offer in Gruver, Texas Independent School District came available with Stocky Lamberson, head coach.

But, as is the case often with young single teachers and coaches, the working environment in Gruver was  less than desirable and extremely difficult. In 1975, he left Gruver to work with head coach Jimmy Duncan in the in the Vega High School system which turned out to be an amazing opportunity and very ideal working situation. While there, he worked as assistant varsity and junior high coach in football, basketball and track and well as teaching history, health and PE. Tom used to say that the old quote “when one door closes, another better door opens” was really true for him. It was a blessing that his difficult years in Tucumcari and Gruver would actually lead to a staff position with Jimmy Duncan at Vega High school. The years in Vega, he was varsity football assistant for Coach Duncan and the Vega Longhorns. He also had the position of assistant coach with Coach Potter which won the state basketball championship for Class A schools in Feb 1979. Later that spring, Coach Duncan took a head football/ athletic director’s job in Spearman, Texas. He encouraged Tom to follow him and work on his staff there. Tom was the defensive co-ordinator working directly under Coach Duncan and the situation was was a nice pay raise and good working environment during the first year, but the following year was a disappointing football season record. At that point,  Coach Duncan accepted a coaching position at Groom High school. Tom was offered a coaching/teaching job in Sanford Fritch ISD with Head Coach Dwayne Jacobs an his staff. The best opportunity of all and a big pay raise, Tom would remain in Fritch as teacher, coach counselor the rest of his career.
During his Vega teaching years, he met Carolyn Stephenson, a second grade teacher in Hereford ISD at Tierra Blanca Elementary. They were introduced by some friends, Johnny an Alice Gunter. Later they laughed that they had both been present at Johnny and Alice’s wedding in 1971, but didn’t meet until four years later.Tom and Carolyn were engaged during the Christmas holidays 1975, and married in the Groom Church of Christ on June 5, 1976 in a very small immediate family wedding.

They lived in Vega until the summer of 1979. Carolyn taught in Hereford and Adrian during that time. In the summer of 1979, they moved to Spearman where Tom worked at the Spearman Junior High. Their first son, Byron Randal was born there in the Spearman hospital on July 21, 1980. In 1982, when Byron was two years old, they moved to Fritch, Texas where Tom took another teaching-coaching job in the SISD High School for seven years. In the following years, two more children, Dallas Lyn was born March 28, 1983 and Stephanie Elizabeth was born December 24, 1984.

During this time, Tom attended night and summer school classes at WTSU (now WTAMU) and began his work on a master’s degree in school counseling. He graduated form WTSU on December 22, 1989 and the next fall of August 1990 worked as high school counselor for Hale Center ISD. Then, an opportunity came for him to return to Fritch ISD as school counselor, and they gladly accepted and would continue to work as counselor at SFHS for the next seven years. In all, Tom taught, coached and counseled a total of twenty-five years in the public school system.

Tom had many hobbies, but perhaps his favorite was camping and traveling in this Taurus travel trailer with his family. His favorite place was Fun Valley, South Forth, Colorado and he spent many hours fishing in the ponds while camping there. This photo was taken at Fun Valley while Tom was cooking some of the fresh creek fish caught at Fun Valley, Colorado.During vacation, he and Dallas would rise very early in the old mountain mornings and fish before the rest of the family was up. Tom also loved to watch Byron, Dallas and Stephanie in the sports as well as helping to coach their teams. And of course, as many of his Oklahoma relatives, Tom loved to play cards and the official family marble game, “Wahoo”.

During the 20 years of marriage, they were members of the Church of Christ in Vega, Spearman, Hale Center, and Fritch. Returning our membership to the Fritch Church of Christ was a strong factor for them to relocate the family back to Fritch the fall of 1991. Later in 1991, Tom became a deacon for the Church and served in the position for 6 years, helping with song leading and taught numerous youth Bible classes.

School counselor photo taken about 1994

A very proud moment came on February 11, 1996 when Byron, Dallas and Stephanie all went forward on a Sunday morning in church and requested to be baptized. They were quick to request that their dad be the person to baptize them. The family had known that Stephanie was planning this, but the boys gave Tom a wonderful surprise with their responses as well.

Tom was very active in the Fritch Little League Association and spent many years coaching youth baseball teams and serving as player representative on the board o directors. He also spent several years coaching and serving the Fritch Little Dribblers basketball organization and served as president for that board one year. He served on numerous community committees for youth drug awareness and on the committee to develop plans for a swimming pool in the Fritch City Park.

Before his diagnosis with cancer, Tom spoke often of running for city council with several projects in mind, one of which would be stronger city codes for the care and management of vacant lots and abandoned building along the Fritch Highway. Tom always felt that the overgrown weeds in vacant lots and old crumbly buildings were an unsightly fire hazard and disgrace to our community.

But as life would develop, Tom was diagnosed with colon cancer metastasis to the liver and the prognosis was bad. Colon surgery on March 10, 1995 at the age of 45 was followed with chemotherapy at the Harrington Cancer Center in Amarillo.

With some success from the chemo, Tom was referred to the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio where Tom agreed to participate in two clinical drug therapy trials. The first drug trial in October 1995, CPT-II called Irinotican was later FDA approved and the doctors in Sna Antonio thanked Tom for helping and participating in the medical research study.

Tom later went to MD Anderson in January in 1996 for an unsuccessful surgical attempt to remove the remaining tumor. At that point, Tom returned to volunteer for another clinical trial in San Antonio in April 1996. The trial was unsuccessful and once again, he returned to MD Anderson in Houston for a chemo-trial there. At this time a very toxic chemo leak in his left arm occurred and the trial was stopped.

Even though the four treatments were unsuccessful in completely stopping the growth of cancer, the disease was slowed down immensely with the help of thousands of friends praying and doctors working together. The initial prognosis of two to nine months of life was thrown out and Tom, with the help of prayers and doctors livened an addition two years.

This is a street named after Tom
in Fritch, Texas

The family was grateful to the family members who helped with travel expenses and medical expenses not covered by insurance. The Fritch Church of Christ never stopped praying and helping financially.

At the request of the Fritch Church, over 2000 people were praying for Tom at the Church of Christ family retreat in Red River in the summer of 1995.

For most of Tom’s struggle, the disease was not painful and he required very little pain medication. Tom’s colleagues in the Sanford Independent School systems were willing to encourage him along his battle and he continued to work in the counseling office until the Christmas break of 1996.

He passed way at the St Anthony’s hospice in Amarillo Texas on Sunday, January 26, 1997.

Services were held Tuesday, January 28, 1997 at the Fritch Church of Christ with Bob Heil, minister officiating. Burial was in Westlawn Memorial Park cemetery under the direction of Minton/Chatwell Funeral Directors of Fritch.