Obituary: Thomas Lexow

In 1951, Tom and his parents made a first-time visit to the Pacific Northwest and decided to stay. Tom’s first job was as deckhand on the Columbia River tugs during that record-breaking frigid winter, hauling munitions from Umatilla to Astoria during the Korean conflict. Tom made engineer quickly when the engine on the tug died as the tug and barge neared the interstate bridge and started drifting. His farm boy time with tractors gave him skills and speed to restart the engine and save the day!

Tom and Virginia married Valentine’s Day 1953. After working several different jobs as they started their family, Tom settled into banking in 1960 at the small town Washougal bank. Working his way up through years, in 1970 Tom was promoted to open a new branch in Stevenson, Wash. While there he joined the city council and worked with chambers of commerce in the area brainstorming the economy. Tom’s enthusiasm was instrumental in the purchase of the first sternwheeler by the cooperation of those involved. He also contributed to the clean-up and enlarging of the Skamania County Fairgrounds. The work provided jobs for local teens, including some of his.

In 1976, when opening the new White Salmon branch, Tom’s German Kansas roots delighted in the town’s existing Bavarian village theme, which inspired him to enhance the bank’s architectural remodel of the former city hall, complete with a glokenspeil bell tower. He was even able to sponsor a Sister-City Tour to Bingen, Germany. He loved playing his strolling accordion during the Oktoberfest and Mayfest days. During those years of work and raising a family, weekends were full of repair chores, motorcycles, hikes, camp-outs, fun and church.

By 1980, as the kids grew and were leaving home, Tom felt he could make a career change to share a new message of hope and healing. New life answers he had received and experienced in the face of pains and struggles he had seen and faced along the way. So it was agreed for him to take training to become a chemical dependency counselor through St. Joseph Hospital’s Turnaround Program in Vancouver, Wash. He spent the remainder of his working career there and at Memorial Hospital. Through his 15 years as counselor, and his dedication to AA, Tom has touched many, many lives throughout the gorge region. That dedication extended to Clark County Jail where he was allowed as a volunteer to bring AA meetings for the first time. The year he retired he received a Governor’s Award for his years’ of service to alcoholics and addicts.

If you ever met Tom, you would know he had a big kind heart, and was driven to share his love for God and message of hope. In addition to his careers and devotion to family, Tom volunteered as boyscout troop master, CCD teacher, camp counselor, and YouthThink advocate. He volunteered at the hospital, drove people to doctor’s appointments, and delivered food for Meals On Wheels. He shared his musical and storytelling talents to cheer up folks in nursing homes. He was an amateur meteorologist and geologist, and the proud airplane pilot of his experimental aircraft called the flutterbug.

The family would like to express heartfelt appreciation to Columbia Basin of The Dalles where Tom stayed the last several months of his life. Staff took such good care of Tom and became extended family to not only Tom, but to all of his visiting family. Thank you.

A funeral Mass and rosary will be held at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in The Dalles on Saturday, March 23 starting at 10:30 a.m. with internment at the St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery, and luncheon to follow.