Thomas I. Gilbert

Thomas Irvine Gilbert, age 86, of Lorain, Ohio passed to Heaven on May 23rd, 2019 at St John Medical Center in Tulsa, OK  with his loving family beside him. He will be buried in Lorain, Ohio.
     Visitation and Memorial services will be on Monday, June 10th at the Lorain Lighthouse United Methodist Church. 3015 Meister Rd. Lorain, Ohio  44053. Visitation is at 11am-12:30 pm and the Funeral Memorial Service is at 12:30pm with Reverend Greg Sellers officiating. A military burial will follow at The Ridge Hill Memorial Park. 44805 N. Ridge Rd. Amherst, Lorain County, Ohio. Following the services at graveside, there will be a Celebration of Life at the Vermilion Boat Club, 5416 Liberty Ave., Vermilion, Ohio.
     Arrangements are made by Boyer & Cool Home for Funerals, Lorain, Ohio.
     Thomas Irvine Gilbert was born on Oct. 24, 1932 in South Williamson, KY to Thomas M. and Mexie C. Gilbert. (Caines)
     Tom grew up in Lorain and graduated from Lorain High School, class of 1951-A. He married Lirio Irizarry Gilbert March 26, 1955. She preceded him in death on March 20, 1981.
     He proudly served in the U.S. Army from 1951-1958 with overseas assignments in Austria, Korea, and Japan. He completed in depth linguistic training in Korean at the Army Language School, Monterey, CA. Upon discharge Tom attended Inter- American University in San German, Puerto Rico graduating in the class of 1961 with majors in Chemistry and Education, and a minor in Mathematics. Subsequently, he attended Ohio University as a graduate assistant in Chemistry.
     Tom worked as a research chemist for Elco Corp and chief chemist for Brooks Oil in Cleveland, Ohio.
     He also served as technical director for Pillsbury Chemicals, Detroit, MI and Dri-Slide Corp. of Fremont, MI. Tom was a senior research tribologist at Climax, Molybdenum in Ann Arbor, MI. He founded 
T. I. Gilbert & Co., lubrication consultants, and was president of Native Supply Co. in Sidney, KY,  a distributor of fuel and lubricants to the coal mining industry. He was a member of ASLE-American Society of Lubricant Engineers, NLGI-National Lubricating Institute, ASTM-American Society for Testing & Materials and a fellow of the FAIC- American Institute of Chemists.  He was an educational lecturer for these national meetings.
     After the passing of his first wife  of 26 years Lirio Irizarry Gilbert. (1929-1981) Tom returned to Lorain. He renewed acquaintance with Nancy Owen LaForce who had been his children’s fourth grade teacher and also widowed. They married on Sept. 2, 1984.
Tom taught science at the Lorain County Vocational School retiring in 1992. He became a licensed realtor and worked with his wife Nancy at Realty One / Howard Hanna until 2009.
     Tom served on the Board of Directors of the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame and was a Board Member for the Cove Inn Condominium Association, Naples, FL. He was an active member of the Lorain Lighthouse United Methodist Church. He was a part of the Lorain City Senior Men’s Fellowship as well. We are going to miss his loving, wise, and gentle ways.
     Tom enjoyed tennis and played competitively into his late seventies. He was an avid reader and expecially appreciative of the books by mail dept. of the Lorain, Naples, and Tulsa Public Libraries.
     Tom is preceded in death by parents Tom and Mexie Gilbert in 1987 and 1995; His first wife Lirio I. Gilbert (Irizarry) March 20, 1981; Grandson Blake C. LaForce, July 3, 2009; and brother John C. Gilbert, Sept. 28, 2015.
     Thomas I. Gilbert is survived by his wife Nancy LaForce Gilbert, His daughters, Angeli G. Powell (Clay), Linda G. Thompson (Fred),
Greer G. Steinke (Matthew), Mark LaForce (Lin), Wade LaForce (Lesa), Wendy LaForce Zambo (George). His sister Marlene Gilbert Hogarth. 15 grandchildren; (Lauren, Johnathan, Amy, Kelly, Matt, Charles C., Grace, Victoria, Allie, Jack, AuBree, Gloria, Emily, Natalie, Allison and 10 great- grandchildren; Brayden, Madelyn, Isaiah, Luke, Avery, Allison, Rhett, Bethany, Cato, and Bodhi.
     Pallbearers are Charles Christian Powell, Matthew Thompson, Richard Hogarth, Jack La Force, John Laforce, and Kyle Kuhn.
     Memorial contributions in memory of Tom may be given in lieu of flowers to the Lorain Lighthouse United Methodist Church.
     The family of Thomas I. Gilbert wish to extend our sincere thanks to the medical, rehab, and home health care he received in Lorain and Tulsa. We are grateful for all our family and friends. Papa Tom would often say what a blessed life he had lived. He told us to enjoy life and give thanks to God. 

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