Thomas Moss

Thomas Randolph Moss (Tom), 99, of Denver, passed away Saturday, June 20, 2020.
Tom was born in Spokane, Washington, but grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and and Washington DC. He was the only child of a church organist father and a pianist mother. He took piano lessons for 5 years but seldom played, however, he retained a life long love for classical music. He met his wife, Marguerite (Margie), at their Baptist church in Washington DC when they were both teens. Tom knew she was the one and gave her his high school class ring as a promise ring. Tom and Margie were married for over 63 years. Sadly she passed away in January 2006. Tom and Margie had three children; Barbara Drury, who lives with her husband Robert Drury in Oracle, Arizona, Linda Lewis, who lives in Half Moon Bay, California and Carol Rehrig, who passed away in 1998.
Tom was attending Johns Hopkins University in 1942 when he realized that war was coming so he and a friend enlisted as aviation cadets in the Army Air Corps. After flight training, Tom, as an aircraft commander/pilot, and his flight crew of 9, flew 51 bombing missions over Germany in a B-24 "Liberator". For these actions he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Medal.
Tom participated in the Berlin Air lift in 1948, flying C54s loaded with 100 pound bags of coal to the American sector of the city for 6 months. He continued his career in the Air Force with various assignments, including Travis AFB, CA, Lowry AFB, CO, Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, SD, and Manzano AFB in Albuquerque, NM.
He retired from the Air Force after 24 years of service, in 1964 as a Lt. Col. However, his love of flying continued, and he spent his last working years training flight engineers on DC10's for United Airlines, McDonnell Douglas, and other airlines. Tom said about his love of flying, "Pilots are like firemen, there's lots of boredom but when something goes wrong, you earn your money and save lives". He flew over 60,000 hours in too many types of planes to list, and never had an accident.
After retirement, he and Margie enjoyed traveling the US in their 5th wheel, and traveling the world via air and cruises. The Panama Canal crossing was their favorite cruise, which they crossed more than 20 times. Their ultimate adventure was a trip on three of the greatest travel options – by sea from New York City to England on the Queen Elizabeth II cruise liner, through the channel Tunnel from London to Paris, then by rail a section on the Orient Express Train, and finally flying the supersonic Concord back to the US.
Tom was active in the National Railroad Historical Society, Eastern Star, Calvary Baptist Church, Berlin Airlift Veterans Association, 461st Bombardment Group (go to 461st.org and search for Thomas Randolph Moss for details on his service), and collected stamps and coins.
To share a memory or leave a message of condolence, please click on the "Share Memories" button above. Tom had two favorite causes, the Organ Fund for Calvary Baptist Church and the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns' Hopkins University. If you would like to donate in his memory: For organ fund, send donation to: Calvary Baptist Church of Denver, 6500 E. Girard Avenue, Denver CO 80224, noting 'In Memory of Thomas R Moss, Organ Fund, or donate online calvarydenver.org, box on top says "GIVE". For John's Hopkins, mail check (made payable to Johns Hopkins University and designated to the "Whiting School Hopkins Fund – Where the Need is Greatest", mail to Johns Hopkins University Development and Alumni Relations, San Martin Center, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, Attn: Gift Processing Supervisor. Include a note "My gift designation: Whiting School Hopkins Fund – Where the Need is Greatest. My gift is in memory of Lt. Col. Thomas R. Moss. Send notification of my gift to: Barbara Drury & Linda Lewis, 32425 S. Egret Trail, Oracle, AZ 85623.