Thomas “Tom” Hinrichs
September 9, 1935 – June 29, 2023
Thomas “Tom” Hinrichs, also known as “Honey, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, Friend and Doctor” was born September 9, 1935, in Lincoln, Nebraska to August and Marie (Schmidt) Hinrichs. His first nine years were spent in Lincoln before the family moved to McCook, Nebraska. McCook is where Tom graduated from high school and McCook Junior College. The following year, Tom moved back to Lincoln to attend the University of Nebraska for one year before then entering The Nebraska Medical School in Omaha. That is where he met his wife, Marilyn (Gunn). They were married in Lincoln on December 28, 1958 and they would have celebrated 65 years of marriage had Tom not passed away. Tom graduated from Medical school in 1961, having spent the two years between his Sophomore and Junior years teaching Anatomy to the Freshman Medical Students. He always had a love for the Sciences.
Tom is survived by his wife, Marilyn, his daughter, Anne Sharpe of Surprise, Arizona and his two sons and their wives, Dr. Mark Hinrichs and Rhonda (Gillund) of Alpharetta, Georgia and David Hinrichs and Rhonda (Palmer) of Peoria, Arizona. His oldest son, James (Jim) preceded him in Death. Jim’s wife was Denee’ (Anderson) now living in Longwood, Florida.
Tom also had nine grandchildren, Thomas II, Jeannie, Casandra, Mikayla, Alisha, Tarra, Roderic, Benjamin and Rachel. He was recently blessed with a beautiful great-grandchild, Charlie, daughter of Mikayla and Chase Napier.
In addition to his immediate family, Tom had two brothers, Daniel Hinrichs who preceded him in death and Fred Hinrichs of Henderson, Nevada.
After graduating from Medical School and completing an internship, Tom spent the next 10 years in General Practice before returning to The University of Colorado Hospital to take a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. After board certification in PM&R he eventually, moved to Reading, Pennsylvania where he was the Medical Director of the Reading Rehabilitation Hospital and later to The Reading Hospital and Medical Center, now known as the Tower Health System, where he practiced until retirement after 22 years as Director of the Physical Medicine Department and Medical Director of the Post Acute Continuum – Continuing Care Center.
Tom loved his Lord Jesus, his family and Medicine although he had many other interests as well. He was an active member of his church and served in various capacities such as Elder and Chairman of the school board. He also loved and served his community in so many different ways. He was a big champion for multiple sclerosis and served on their board for several years while living in Colorado.
While living in Canon City, Colorado during his general practice years there was nothing he loved more than jeeping, hiking and camping with his family and friends, enjoying all that Colorado had to offer. He also had a great love for travel, poetry, photography, astronomy, art and music. Many Saturday evenings or Sunday afternoons found him at the Symphony but he was just as happy with a rousing polka, a good Kenny Rogers or listening to his favorite Tenor, Pavarotti. He loved variety. His love for poetry took him to Ireland and England where he also studied at Cambridge University.
Tom dedicated his life to serving others and although he suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease during the final years of his life he will always be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend and a beloved healer of those who were sick whether in body or spirit.
We love you and miss you, Tom
Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 AM, Saturday, October 14, 2023, at Wyuka Funeral Home, Lincoln.
In lieu of flowers, suggested memorials may be given to the Alzheimer’s foundation at Alzheimer.org or to St. Jude Children’s Hospital which was a charity close to Tom’s heart.
We miss you so much, Tom. Special in our memories are the times we jeeped when we all lived i n Canon City, Co. Those were summer days with laughter and crazy fun watching our 7 children and the antics of Tom & Neil. Heaven won’t be dull with the two of you. Muriel and the Addington family