Thomas Wayne Wells

Tom Wells was born at home at 622 East N Street in Benicia on September 25, 1941. He attended elementary, middle and high school in Benica, graduating in 1960. Tom was a paperboy for the Vallejo Times Hearld for several years – mostly in the Highlands riding his bike accompanied by his dog. Customers he didn’t like got their frozen hoses stomped on in the winter. As teenagers Tom and Frank Pinkham went hunting for ducks at the end of main street, they got caught by the Police department where the gun was confiscated, and both were given community service. No ducks were harmed, and no community service was ever done. When Tom was a junior at Benicia high, he met Sandra Hodges it didn’t take long till they were “going Steady”, at age 18 Tom became a Christian and was baptized. Tom was 18 and working for the summer at Lake Tahoe when he and his friend James Gayle went to Placerville to swim in Mosquito Lake, when tom noticed his friend was underwater too long, he swam down 20 feet and found Jame’s unconscious and brought him up to the surface calling for help and starting “artificial respiration” saving Jame’s life. For Toms heroic action he was awarded a silver engraved plate by the Benicia 20-30 club. Tom attended Vallejo Junior College for two years – then was hired by Travis AFB where he worked and retired from after 33 years. While working at Travis Tom attended Golden Gate University getting a diploma in transportation. April 28, 1963, Tom and Sandra were married in the First Baptist Church at 191 East M Street and lived in Vallejo for 6 years before moving to Davis in 1969. While working at Travis he was asked to be on the Board of Directors at Travis Credit Union and served over twenty years. He also enjoyed distributing bibles as a Gideon for several years. After retiring from Travis, Tom went to flower decorating school in Sacramento and became a florist for 8 years. Many weddings, UCD events and arrangements were made by Tom. Since Tom loved Butte County so much, he and Sandra had a new home built in Paradise and moved there in 2021 after living in the same house in Davis for 52 years. In addition to his Family, Tom loved Elvis, Chinese food, San Francisco Giants and the 49ers and cross-country driving trips with the grandchildren (his favorite part was to plan the trips with them) Tom passed away on Friday afternoon October 4, 2024, peacefully at home-9 days after reaching his 83rd birthday. He is survived by his wife of 61 years – Sandra (Hodges) Wells and three children Michael Wells, Julia (Bill) Muller, and Daniel Wells as well as ten grandchildren and three great grandsons.

Thomas Wayne Wells

September 25, 1941 - October 4, 2024