Thomas Jerome DuCharme

Thomas Jerome DuCharme

1934 – 2019

Thomas “Tom” J. DuCharme passed away peacefully on Nov. 6, 2019 at the age of 85.    He was born Sept. 6, 1934 to Frank and Irma DuCharme in Minneapolis, MN, the eldest of two sons.

He was a witty and charming man and delighted all the doctors, and nurses during his last illness with his jokes, and positive attitude. When he had a stroke he told all of the family that he could still out think all of us (true) even though he only had partial use of his brain. He proved it by beating us all with “Words with Friends”. Tom left behind multitudes of random items, including thousands of Wal-Mart plastic bags, and Bed, Bath and Beyond discounts that would prove helpful to anyone wanting to camp or shop anywhere in the United States. He kept meticulous notes on everything which is proving helpful. He also loved spending time, and enjoying visits, dinners and excursions during the last two years of his life with his family.

He attended Anoka High School where he met his lifelong friend T Warren Sjoberg.   It was way back then that a charming and handsome young Tom, met an adorable 16-year-old girl named Marlene.  It was at that first meeting that he said, “I’m going to marry that girl”.   Tom & Marlene would then marry in October 1953 and raise five children together, including three daughters and two sons.

Tom enlisted in the U.S Navy n 1952 and served with VP-44 Naval Air Station in Norfolk, VA as an aircraft electrician.  He received an honorable discharge in 1956 and went on to a prestigious career with IBM for 35 years.

Tom’s career with IBM required him to transfer often to different IBM branches around the country, which resulted in his wife and children being moved to new homes in cities in Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, and California. Tom was an extremely hardworking man and recognized by his colleagues for his amazing sales abilities and professionalism.  Through the years he received many promotions, awards, honors, and recognitions.   During his time in Oklahoma, Tom showed pioneering dedication by becoming a licensed pilot so that he would be able to fly to his various accounts across the state of Oklahoma to offer his outstanding customer support to his sales accounts.

Tom was also married later in life to Barbara DuCharme until her passing in 2008.  They shared a love for nature and the outdoors including feeding woodchucks, and enjoyed a quiet life of camping and canoeing the lakes of New York and Connecticut together, with one special place being Racquette Lake in upstate New York, that Tom made clear to everyone was “his favorite place on Earth”.

Tom was preceded in death by his loving wife Barbara, his mother and father, Frank and Irma DuCharme, his brother David DuCharme, his beloved son Scott DuCharme, and grandson Matthew DuCharme.   He is survived by one half-sister Denise DuCharme Lee (Bob) of FL, and a brother-in-law David Hewson of San Diego, CA.  He is also survived by his first wife Marlene, and their four surviving children, Lori Darks (Don), Steven DuCharme (Brenda), Michelle Ireland (Richard), Christina Buchanan (Bryan).  He is also survived by 15 grandchildren; Sarah Dunning, Randy Dunning Jr. (JJ), Aimee Ducharme Stewart (Ian), Bryan DuCharme, Steven DuCharme (Rebekah), Shannon DuCharme, Scott DuCharme, Jr., Katherine DuCharme, Geoffrey Turvey (Amanda), Timothy Benner, Jennifer Benner Skarda (Jared), Rebecca Buchanan, Jacob Buchanan, and Rachel Buchanan; and 11 great-grandchildren, Isaiah Dunning, Jada Dunning, Dylan Mullenburg, McKenzie Phillips, Presley Phillips, Jacob Stewart, Abigail DuCharme, Christopher DuCharme, Chloe DuCharme, Wynter Benner, and Sayre Benner.

He loved to say that he and his wife Marlene, created a village.  Indeed his huge family legacy lives on.

His children and grandchildren will always remember him for his wit, wisdom, guidance and unconditional love .

Special thanks to the staff and nurses at Epworth Villa for the kindness and care given to our father over the last few months.