Henry Thomas Lindsay, Jr.

CW4 Henry Thomas (Tom) Lindsay, Jr, USA Ret, at age 90, like many of his contemporary pilots, made his final flight West on April 24, 2024 with his loving wife, companion and best friend of 45 years, Helen Elizabeth by his side.

Tom or Henry T, as he was known to many, was born May 17, 1933, to Henry Thomas and Sylvia Lindsay in Lynchburg, VA. At age 16 he convinced his father to sign the required paperwork and joined the Marine Corp Reserves. After a year, he enlisted in the Air Force for four years and then went into the Army. He had a break in service and moved back home to get married and start a family and to serve as a police officer in Lynchburg, VA.

His love of the military drew him back to the Army when he reentered military service in 1958. His last assignment as an NCO was an instructor in the ROTC program at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for three years before entering Army Aviation's flight school in 1963.
He graduated flight school in 1964 and began his Army aviator military career as a fixed wing pilot and then helicopter pilot and instructor. He was stationed across the United States and overseas with tours in Germany, two tours in Viet Nam and Turkey in 1979, where he met his love and lifelong companion, Helen Elizabeth Booch.

While serving in the military, he earned numerous medals and accommodations for exemplary service, including numerous Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Air Medals, Meritorious Service Medals, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm.
After 30 years of military service, Tom retired in 1981 at Ft. Rucker, AL and worked as a contract flight instructor before returning to the Directorate of Evaluation and Standardization as a Department of the Army Civilian (DAC) from 1989 until 1995 when he retired again to happily become a stay-at-home Dad to Thomas, his youngest son.

Tom, Helen and Thomas were active members of St. Columba Catholic Church in Dothan AL. In 2012 Tom and Helen moved back to his home state of Virginia, bought a home at the base of his much loved, Blue Ridge Mountains in Nellysford and joined St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Waynesboro, VA. In Virginia they spent their time traveling the many historic sites of Virginia, volunteering for numerous organizations and touring the United States, as well as Europe and South America.

Tom was a self-taught carpenter, home chef, avid reader and enjoyed engaging in political and historical debates with friends and colleagues. He could truly talk to any stranger, much to the chagrin of his then teen children. Throughout his life he kept a menagerie of pets, none considered too odd or cumbersome for adoption; from peacocks to goats, dachshunds to golden doodles, and rehomed to rescue dogs, the home was always a refuge for those needing love.

Tom was a brave and loyal soldier, loving husband and proud, patient, and loving father. He was preceded in death by his parents, his adored youngest son, Thomas, and a loving mother-in-law and friend, Ruth Booch.

He is survived by his wife Helen Elizabeth, son Joshua (Lori) Lindsay; daughters Kathy (Mark) Newman, Kristy (Michael) Mulvenon and Robin (Darrin) Stone; sister Carolyn Cassell, brother Joseph Watson, four grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and brothers-in-law Grady (Jan) Booch and Peter (Edith) Kroessinger.

A Mass of Christian Burial, honoring the life of Henry Thomas Lindsay will be held at 11 am on Thursday, May 2, 2024 at St. Columba Catholic Church in Dothan, AL with Monsignor Patrick Gallagher officiating. Tom will be laid to rest with full military honors in Sunset Memorial Park following the services on Thursday. The family will receive friends at Sunset Funeral Home on Wednesday evening, May 1, 2024 from 5-7 pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Hopeful Hounds, Lovingston Veterinary Hospital, P.O. Box 304, Lovingston, VA 22949 (make check payable to Veterinary Care Foundation) or St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church Building Fund, 301 Sheppard Court, Waynesboro, VA 22980.
 

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