July 23, 1944 - June 20, 2014
Thomas Eugene Stoker died at the VA Hospital in Reno June 20, 2014, of complications of renal failure. He was 69.
Born in Winnemucca, Nevada, Tom loved his native state with its rugged frontier. He was proud of an abandoned tungsten mine he inherited from his father. His parents had settled in Lovelock, and Tom earned a B.A. in Spanish with minors in history and English in 1969 at the university of Nevada, Reno.
Tom converted to Mormonism and spent two years as a Mormon missionary in Montevideo, Uruguay, where he mastered the use of Rioplatense, the Spanish dialect of that region. On his return from Uruguay while studying at Brigham Young University, Tom developed an interest in genealogy and traced the Stoker family history.
Of Danish/German roots, Tom traveled extensively in Mexico, Central and South America and Europe.
While studying Arabic at the U.S. Army Language School, Tom was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a condition that deeply affected his personal and professional life. Tom worked at various jobs during his lifetime, including for the Salt Lake County Division of Aging in 1974-75 and for the CETA program in Reno.
In San Francisco Tom worked for Morrison Knudson Engineers for five years. He also worked as a bus travel guide and later as a translator at the Hispanic Community Fund in the city.
His writing talent earned him a job writing historical vignettes with personal commentary for the Humboldt Sun newspaper in Winnemucca.
Tom's remains were cremated after his death and he will be buried near his mother and father, Lois and Vernon Stoker. Survivors include many nieces, nephews; his sister, Linda Walker in Denver; his brother Eldon in Beaver, Utah; and his housemate, Victor, in Lovelock.
A memorial service is pending.