Thomas Denton
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Thomas J. Denton, 69, of Independence, MO passed away September 1, 2019. An informal Celebration of Life will be held from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. on Saturday, September 21, 2019. Services will take place at Heartland Cremation & Burial Society, 6113 Blue Ridge Blvd., Raytown, Missouri 64133.
Thomas was born March 19, 1950 in St. Paul, Minnesota. At the age of 5, Mr. Denton was adopted and relocated to the Kansas City, Missouri area. A 1968 graduate of Truman High School in Independence, Missouri, Thomas earned an academic scholarship to the University of Missouri at Rolla. After learning that he did not possess a passion for engineering, Thomas left college, and spent several years working for the Ford Motor Company in Claycomo, Mo. However, it was the open road of trucking which would become his true calling. Tom logged over forty years as a long haul driver, and throughout those years, he earned numerous safe driving awards. When forced to fully retire in late 2018 due to illness, he had surpassed 1.5 million miles of accident free driving. Wise to the ways of the road, he never hesitated to offer advice, or instruction to less experienced drivers. In addition to driving, Tom was fond of his family, his numerous friends throughout the country, animals, cherry mash candy, sports cards, and buffalo slot machines. In 2017, after sixty-two years, Thomas was able to reconnect with many members of his biological family. Thomas will be remembered as a man of integrity, who was blessed with an empathy for others, a quick wit, and a wonderful sense of humor.
Thomas was preceded in death by his parents Verl and Hazel Denton.
He is survived by his son Jeffrey Denton; granddaughter Chloe Denton and grandson Jakob Denton; sister Julie Stoehr; and nephew Gary Reigel.
Thomas was a patriotic American, who appreciated the sacrifice of our veterans. Therefore, the family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations in his memory be made to mission22.com/contribute, ndswm.org/donate, or any other veterans organization of your choosing.
Visits: 5
Hope you all are doing alright. Started to cry watching the video. Lots of memories running through my mind. He will be missed.
Ray and I will you forever in our hearts. Your sandbar friends. Love you so much.
Will never for get the good times of working with teamster tom for thats what we all called him on all the road jobs and at nipsco. Will aways remember him such a good friend.
I always enjoyed visiting with him at family gatherings. I’m grateful for all he did to help his mother in law. He was so helpful.
Very nice tribute to your dad and glad you used the picture I took of him at my mom’s labor day celebration 2 years ago, it’s a great picture of him! I am thankful I got to meet him. Looking through all those pictures, I always like to look at the resemblance of all his biological Rahier side of the family, I see a lot of us in him especially in his younger years.
I am so sorry for your the loss of a great man, father, grandfather, brother,uncle, cousin and the loss of a great friend that I had in Tom he will be missed dearly by everyone .
God bless
Great video – Tom would be proud of that. Looks like he really enjoyed running them trucks.