Thomas Dwight Siefke

Thomas Dwight Siefke, 100, passed very peacefully into his Eternal Life on Saturday, May 9, 2020 in his home surrounded by his family. Tom, or very commonly known as “UT” to many, was born in Indianapolis, IN on February 1, 1920 to Lucille Roby Siefke and Carl J. Hosey and raised in South and East Toledo by his mother and stepfather, Ferdinand Siefke. He married Jacqueline Fitterer on July 16, 1938 who predeceased him in January, 2018. They would have celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary in July of 2018. Tom celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by family, friends and members of the Marine Corps Reserve and Marine Corps League at the East Toledo Marine Corps League – United Steelworkers Hall. During the birthday celebration, he was honored for his distinguished military career on February 1, 2020 with over 100 people in attendance. Tom and Jackie enjoyed spending their winter months in Royal Palm Beach, FL after his retirement from Ohio Bell/AT&T in 1979 with 31 years of service. They continued to live in West Toledo during the warmer climate there. He started out as a Western Union Telegraph bicycle delivery person in Toledo at age 14. He told stories of deliveries to bootleggers and casinos in the era of illegal casinos in Toledo where his tips often would be larger than his wages. Laughingly, he shared delivering to downtown brothels where “the girls were very nice to the telegraph boys and gave us cookies.” He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1937 and trained at Guantanamo in Cuba as part of the Marines’ early efforts to establish amphibious capability using whale boats. He was deployed with an engineer support unit attached to the 1st Marine Brigade in the occupation of Iceland before the U.S. entry into WWII for the purpose of preventing Iceland from falling into German hands. Tom was due to be released in December, 1941 from active duty and was on a ship traveling back from Iceland at the time of the Pearl Harbor Japanese attack. He joined the Paramarines in 1942 after learning that if he would jump out of airplanes, he would be paid an extra $50 per month.  He served with them in 1943 in the Solomon Islands, on Guadalcanal and in the Choiseul Diversion where, after Japanese forces closed in his unit, they withdrew in PT boats under the command of John F. Kennedy.  As a result of those experiences, he was asked to be a contributor to Mission Raise Hell, Marine James F. Christ’s book covering the Choiseul Diversion. Later in 1943, on Bougainville, he met up with General Walter Churchill, then Colonel and later a prominent businessman in Toledo. When the Paramarines disbanded in late 1943, Tom was assigned to the new 27th Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, CA. He told the story of “spending time in the brink” after an unauthorized absence for a month to spend time with his wife, Jackie, believing after the first deployment to the South Pacific, he had to take that time with her as he might not return a second time. He landed on Iwo Jima with the 27th Marines in February, 1945 and was wounded on the 9th day with a bullet wound through his right wrist. He suffered another wound when he was hit by shrapnel from a mortar round. He received two Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star for his service. After WWII, he joined Toledo Edison as a lineman but moved to Ohio Bell after a serious electrical shock, where he worked with other linemen who he said, had moved to the telephone company for the same reason. His career of being a foreman of crews maintaining telephone system lines and equipment in various Toledo and Eastern Ohio areas lead to a meet up with baseball immortal, Cy Young. Tom enjoyed a highly successful career with Ohio Bell. Married to Jackie, who was his childhood sweetheart, he told of riding his tricycle to a screeching stop the first time he saw her. They were together from that day forward. Tom was a very accomplished golfer and played in several leagues both in Toledo, OH and Royal Palm Beach, FL. He and Jackie also spent many years in bowling leagues in both Ohio and Florida. Tom was quite the bowler as well! In addition to being predeceased by his parents, wife Jackie, and brother, Wayne “Bud” Siefke, they had one son, Charles Thomas Siefke, who predeceased them. He is survived by daughter, Sharon Prince-Dann (Nick) of Westerville, OH; grandson Anthony Prince (Regina) along with grandchildren Caiden and Jade Prince, Columbus, OH; step-granddaughters, Katarina Dann, Bryan, OH; Kristina Dann and step-granddaughter, Vivian Lassiter, McClure, OH; Sister and Brother-in-law, Dorothy and Robert Stowe, Pittsfield, MA; nieces and nephews, Linda and Fritz Kalmbach, LuAnne Adams Hodges, Randy Roslin, Gail Anthony, Karen Gromnicki, Marlon Wharton, Chuck Keween, and Jack Minarcin.  Also surviving are several great and great-great nieces and nephews, special friends, Grace Lombard, Nancy and Myron Pinkelman and Joanne Taylor, who offered love and support in Tom’s and Jackie’s later years, and many other wonderful neighbors and friends. Arrangements are being handled by the Cremation Society of Toledo, 7210 Airport Highway, Holland, OH 43528. www.toledocremation.com . No date for a Celebration of Life ceremony is planned at this time but a service with military honors will be announced for a later date.