Thomas Everett Ford Sr., 84, of Decatur died at Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham on Saturday, January 3, 2015. Funeral services will be held at Shelton Funeral Home in Decatur on Thursday, January 8, at 1 p.m. with Dr. Ben Hayes and Rev. Sanford Cooper officiating. The family will receive friends two hours prior to the service. Interment will be in East Lawrence Memorial Gardens.
Mr. Ford was born April 20, 1930, in Germantown, TN, to Sanford and Elizabeth Trusty Ford. He graduated from Germantown High School and was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He was a member of Southside Baptist Church in Decatur where he was a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and choir member. He was also a member of Gideons International.
Mr. Ford was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Mary Helen Cooper and Margaret Ford; and one son, Michael L. Ford.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Mary Anne Gilless Ford; three sons, Thomas Ford Jr. (Rebecca), North Richland Hills, TX, David Ford (Sandra), Alabaster and Richard Ford (Kim), Indianapolis, IN; one daughter, Lisa Durham (David), Gulf Shores; one daughter-in-law, Janette Ford, Collierville, TN; one brother, Jerry Ford (Jean), Atoka, TN; three sisters, Velma Smith, Collierville, TN, Shirley Leake, Hendersonville, TN, and Doris Henderson, Southaven, MS; 18 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Pallbearers will be grandsons and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Southside Music Industry, 709 9th Street, Decatur, AL 35601 or to Gideons International, P.O. Box 5111, Decatur, AL 35602.
