Terry John Ham

Age 57, passed away on Tuesday, October 29, 2013. He was born in Albuquerque on June 17, 1956. Terry attended Highland High School in Albuquerque. In 1975, he joined the United States Air Force where he was a Crew Chief on the C-5 Galaxy. In 1976, Terry married Vanessa Wright. They were stationed in Delaware until 1979. After leaving the military, Terry and Vanessa moved back to Albuquerque where Terry completed the Electronics Program at TVI. He then began his successful career in computer networking and sales at LANL, and worked for Aquila Technologies, 3Com, and Cisco Systems for the next twenty years. The most important aspect of Terry's life was always his relationships with his family and dear friends. He was a lifelong Lobo Basketball and Dallas Cowboy fan; he loved fly fishing and playing golf, and had a passion for cooking. Terry's ability to make everyone around him smile and laugh will be greatly missed. His positive attitude and serial optimism are characteristics that those who knew him all admired. He is survived by the love of his life, Vanessa; daughter, Nicole Ham and fiancé, Billy Kleinsteuber; son, Michael Ham; identical twin brother, Jerry Hamm and wife, Elizabeth; sisters, Betty Atwood and Michelle White; lifelong friend, Roger Vaughn; and many nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, and longtime close friends. In 1994, with the care of Dr. Barbara McAneny, Terry beat advanced stage lung cancer. He lived twenty more wonderful years in which he accomplished his goal of watching his children grow up. Although cancer is what eventually took Terry's life, it was a different type of cancer than he had prior. The family would like to extend a warm thank you to the Palliative Care Unit at the Albuquerque VA Hospital for their care over him in his final weeks. A Memorial Service will be held Monday, November 4, 2013, 3:30 p.m., at FRENCH - Lomas. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation, 4901 Lang Ave. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109.