Thomas Neil Eaton

A resident of Albuquerque since 2006, Thomas Neil Eaton, passed away November 24, 2018 in his home. He was born January 7, 1936 in Harvard Illinois. Growing up he was a paperboy for the Milwaukee Journal in Madison Wisconsin. 1954 he enlisted in the Naval Reserves in Sioux City, Iowa. He graduated from Sioux City High School in June 1955. His father requested Thomas to move to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin to help him in the piano store. When the piano store closed, Tom drove his mother, sister, Mary Jo, and brother, Jerry, to Seal Beach, California not knowing his mother was pregnant with his sister, Jill Marden. Tom worked for Bell telephone Co. and later married Sandra Blau. They had one son, Thomas Michael Eaton, born in 1957 before their divorce. He changed jobs and worked as an attendant at Standard Stations. There he met his second wife, Marianne Eaton. They married in her parents’ home in Bellflower, California in 1960. From that union were three children, Marie Ann Eaton, H. Neil Eaton, and Jason Travis Eaton. For a time, he serviced a Jewel Tea route in Hollydale, CA. He became a mechanic at Healy’s service station while holding a job at Waste King Manufacturing in Vernon. He worked for Singer Floor Covering and owned Tom Eaton’s Texaco service station in Rowland Heights CA. He then worked for Goodyear as an auto mechanic. In 1972 he worked for the State of California as a Vehicle/Station inspector with the California Highway Patrol. When that program was no longer funded, he went back to Goodyear as a mechanic. The next year the Air Resources board called him back. He worked in a laboratory testing gasoline. He was an expert witness against large oil companies selling gas in California that was not up to state standards. Then the Bureau of Automotive Repair called him to serve as a Station and Vehicle inspector. He was promoted to supervisor of the South El Monte Office for about ten years. He retired in 1994, had a heart attack, recovered, and became an usher at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA. He was later recalled to the Bureau as a retired annuitant. In 2006 he and his wife, Marianne, sold their home in California and moved to Albuquerque. He was a chain smoker but stopped in 1984. Needing something to keep his hands busy he chose photography and gardening. He raised flowers, his favorite was Iris, which he photographed. In his job he needed state office personnel cooperation, so he began to send a 5x7 signed iris pictures to those clerks that helped him. Other clerks began to call and ask if they could get one and he would say, “What can you do for me?” He decorated his home with his pictures and made several photo books of family occasions. He also was a World War II aircraft aficionado. He belonged to the Chino Planes of Fame and built models of WWII aircraft. In Albuquerque he joined the Sons of the American Revolution and the Descendants of the Mayflower. He was predeceased by his parents, William Burdette Eaton (1914-1968); mother, Geraldine Rose Beeten (1913-1984); and one grandson, Travis Neil Eaton. Surviving him is his wife of 59 years, Marianne Rinehart Eaton; daughter, Marie Ann Eaton of Valencia, CA; sons, Thomas Michael Eaton of Garden Grove, CA, H. Neil Eaton and wife, Sharon Micallef Eaton of Wildomar, CA, and Jason Travis and wife Diane Hill Eaton; sisters, Kay Jean Eaton Roberts, Jill Marden Eaton Hanson; brother, Jerry Jay and wife, Agnes Killian Eaton; three granddaughters; five grandsons; and five great-grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be held Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. FRENCH - University with a reception to follow.

FRENCH - University

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