Thomas Pardee
November 24, 1941 - February 4, 2025
Thomas Lee Pardee, 83, of Ponca City, OK, left this life on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Trout Funeral Home & Crematory, 505 W. Grand Ave, Ponca City, OK, 74601.
Thomas was born on Monday, November 24, 1941, in Moberly, Missouri, to Thomas Henry and Billie Ann (Ragsdale) Pardee. He grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he graduated from Stillwater High School in 1959. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Navy where he served as a Draftsman on the USS Taconic from 1960-1963. After he completed his obligations with the Navy, he moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma. He attended classes at Northern Oklahoma College in Tonkawa and then began working in the Graphics Department at CONOCO. While at CONOCO, he met his future wife, Connie Lane, who he married on February 9, 1972. Tom and Connie were avid sailors and competed in regattas all over Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Missouri. Tom and Connie gave birth to their first and only child, Travis Lane Pardee, in 1976.
In addition to his work at CONOCO, he founded CompuSign Vinyl Graphics. Tom was the first “vinyl sign guy” in town and created signs for hundreds of businesses, cars, boats, first responder vehicles, etc. He retired from CONOCO in 1999 but continued work with CompuSign until 2020. He was a founding member of the Indian Nations Sailing Association, an organization dedicated to the promotion of the sport in Northern Oklahoma. Additionally, he was a Senior Race Officer and Judge for the United States Yacht Racing Union and U.S. Sailing. He was an advocate for youth sailing programs in the area and had a traveling trophy named in his honor.
Tom and Connie enjoyed traveling the continent in their RV and were able to visit nearly all 50 states before Connie’s passing in 2015. Tom served on the Ponca City Park and Recreation Advisory Board and was a member of the Ponca City Elks Lodge.
Tom is survived by: son, Travis Lane Pardee of Henderson, Nevada; grandsons, Xavier Thomas Pardee of Henderson, Nevada; Ryder Lee Pardee of Henderson, Nevada; daughter-in-law, Pamela Sue (Sipe) Pardee of Henderson, Nevada; brother-in-law, Bobby Calvin Lane of Edmond, Oklahoma; and sister-in-law: Kathy (Bushyhead) of Edmond, Oklahoma. He is preceded in death by: his wife, Connie; and parents, Thomas and Billie Ann.
The family requests no food or flowers, but Memorial Contributions in his name may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105or online at https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html
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