Thomas O’Kelley was born in Odessa, Texas. His father worked in various oil fields which afforded him the opportunity to attend four different High Schools graduating from Grapevine High School in 1965. He attended Arlington State College for two years when the military came knocking. So, in 1967 he enlisted in the U S Air Force and was stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas; Goose Bay Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada; and Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
He worked as a Ground Power Technician and Base Operations Manager. In 1974, he was honorably discharged at the rank of Staff Sargent. In 1984 he enlisted in the Air Force Reserve at Carswell Air Force Base, Ft. Worth, TX and worked as a reserve technician on laser guidance systems. Then transferred to Bergstrom Airforce Base, Austin, Texas and worked as an Engineering Technical Representative for 1 year and was honorably discharged as a Technical Sargent. In 1990 he went to work for the Federal Aviation Administration in Ft. Worth, Texas and worked for 23 years. He initially worked in the DFW area for 10 years as a RADAR Technician and Radar Supervisor. He was then promoted to the National Technical Inspection Program (NASTEP) where he inspected facilities and mentored other technicians for 6 years. He was again promoted to a Program Manger position with the Aviation Oversight Organization for 2 years. His next promotion was the position of RETIRED in December of 2010.
He met the love of his life, Linda, 16, when he was 18. Two years later he got a day off from technical school to come home and marry her on December 22, 1967. They have been married for 56 blissful years. They have two wonderful children - a son named Bradly and daughter named Tonya, two awesome grandchildren – Remington and Joshua.
Since retirement, they have been traveling and enjoying family. They bought a monster off road jeep to enhance their adventures on the trails in Texas, Colorado, and Arkansas.
