Groome, Thomas

Chaplain Thomas M. Groome, Jr., 88, died Thursday, January 13. Born November 14, 1921 in Greensboro, he spent his teen years in Jackson Heights, NY and attended Houghton College. In 1942 he entered the US Army Air Corps as a Private. Commissioned in 1943, he served at various bases in the US, India and Burma as a communications officer and in China as a Forward Air Controller. He was separated in 1946 and returned to school, graduating with a degree in economics. In 1947 he enrolled in the Biblical Seminary in New York, transferring to Western Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church and graduated in 1950. In June 1951 he was recalled to active duty as a Chaplain in the US Air Force. Until his discharge in 1976, Chaplain Groome was assigned to various bases in the US, Alaska, Greenland, and Germany. In 1965 he graduated from the Air War College and was awarded the Master of Science degree in International Relations from the George Washington University. While serving in Europe he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and assigned as Deputy Chief of Chaplains. Prior to moving to the North Carolina sandhills in October 1985, Chaplain Groome was on the staff of the First Presbyterian church in Las Vegas. He also served and pastor of Union Presbyterian Church in Moore County, NC before retiring from active ministry in 1988. As an Interim minister he served the Pinehurst Community Presbyterian Church-McDonald‘s Chapel Parish, the Raeford Presbyterian Church, the Rockingham Presbyterian Church, the Church in the Pines, and as assistant to the minister at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church. In addition to his clergy activities, Chaplain Groome while in Moore County was president of the Sandhills Chapter of the Retired Officers Association, President of the Sandhills Chapter of the American Cancer society, the first President of Drug Free Moore County, the Tin Whistles, and the Foundation of the Sandhills Community College. In Scotland County he was a Hospice volunteer, a member of the Scotland Memorial Foundation Board of Trustees, and a member in good standing of the Laurinburg Morning Drinking Club. He is survived by his wife, Jean Tanner Groome; three sons, Tom Groome, III of Columbia, MD; David Groome of Arlington, VA, and Mike Groome of Beaverton, OR; eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He was also preceded in death by his daughter, Deborah Jean Peterman. Memorials may be made to Scotia Village Foundation, 2200 Elm Ave., Laurinburg, NC 28352. Visitation will follow the memorial service in the church fellowship hall. A memorial service will be 10 a.m. Monday at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church. Burial will be 3 p.m. at the Groometown United Methodist Church Cemetery in Greensboro.