Roll Call Tribute
Willis "Tiny" Tomsen '60 June 19, 2018 10:34 AM updated: June 19, 2018 10:38 AM
Published in Anchorage (AK) Daily News from June 20 to June 21, 2018
Willis "Tiny" Tomsen(1932-2018)
Willis "Tiny" Tomsen, 86, died of acute heart failure in Tulsa, Okla., on June 4, 2018, surrounded by family and friends. He will be greatly missed by many.
A retired Army Lt. Colonel, civil engineer, outdoorsman, builder and supporter of wildlife art, Tiny was born to Nels and Luella Tomsen (second-generation Danish immigrants) in the middle of a blizzard in January 1932. Growing up on the family farm near Minden, Neb., he excelled at sports and academics in high school, entering Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1949.
Within the year he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he played football for Coaches Lombardi and Blaik, earning the nickname "Tiny" with his large stature. Proudly in the M-2 ("Above the Rest") company, he also loved photography and became the West Point Howitzer yearbook photographer.
Upon graduation from USMA in 1954, he married Dorothy Geiser, a nurse from a large Nebraska sandhill ranching family, and entered the Infantry. Subsequently obtaining a master's degree in civil engineering at Texas A&M, Tiny's Army service included duty stations across the United States, in Germany, Vietnam and Alaska, and finally with the Corps of Engineers in Tulsa. There, he was honored as Oklahoma's "Conservationist of the Year" by Senator David Boren.
Upon retirement from the military, Tiny worked for the University of Tulsa, and then reinvented himself as a homebuilder, building many unique homes in Tulsa. After a Ducks Unlimited Lifetime Achievement Award, Tiny started NatureWorks with Harold Stuart, erecting numerous wildlife bronzes in Tulsa and the River Parks. Through his efforts, a bronze of the West Point mascot ("Hannibal" the mule) made by Tulsa sculptor David Nunneley now stands at the entrance of the United States Military Academy. Tiny's friends span the globe from beyond the lower 48 states to Alaska, Australia, Germany, Norway and South Africa.
Surviving him are wife, Barbee Tomsen of Inverness Village, Tulsa; her son, Clayton Grayson (Vicky); their daughter, Tara Grayson; Tiny's sister, Betty Kempf (Fred); brother, Jim Tomsen; children, Maj. (ret.) Chris Tomsen (Vera), Dr. Tina Tomsen (Patrick McGownd) and Karla Shahan (Bryan); grandchildren, Ian Shahan, Jan Tomsen, Capt. Erik Tomsen, Maureen Voris, Thomas Shahan, Tucker McGownd, and Eliza McGownd; and great-grandchildren Savannah and Linnea Tomsen. Tiny was preceded in death by his first wife, Dorothy; and brothers, Donald and Chuck Tomsen. A public memorial service is planned for Aug. 6, 2018, at Inverness Village in Tulsa, Okla. Details will be posted at floralhaven.com.
In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to NatureWorks, P.O. Box 52551 Tulsa, OK 74152; or Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, P.O. Box 4557 Des Moines, IA 50305. Memorials are also welcome at https://www.floralhaven.com/obituaries/. When you hear geese honk, cranes whoop, or see baby ducks or a mule: think of Tiny.
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Floral Haven Funeral Home, Cemetery & Crematory death notice
6500 S 129th E Ave.
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
918.505.7254
Willis C. Tomsen
Birth Date: January 16, 1932Death Date: June 4, 2018
Services are pending.
Willis "Tiny" Tomsen(1932-2018)
Willis "Tiny" Tomsen, 86, died of acute heart failure in Tulsa, Okla., on June 4, 2018, surrounded by family and friends. He will be greatly missed by many.
A retired Army Lt. Colonel, civil engineer, outdoorsman, builder and supporter of wildlife art, Tiny was born to Nels and Luella Tomsen (second-generation Danish immigrants) in the middle of a blizzard in January 1932. Growing up on the family farm near Minden, Neb., he excelled at sports and academics in high school, entering Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1949.
Within the year he was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he played football for Coaches Lombardi and Blaik, earning the nickname "Tiny" with his large stature. Proudly in the M-2 ("Above the Rest") company, he also loved photography and became the West Point Howitzer yearbook photographer.
Upon graduation from USMA in 1954, he married Dorothy Geiser, a nurse from a large Nebraska sandhill ranching family, and entered the Infantry. Subsequently obtaining a master's degree in civil engineering at Texas A&M, Tiny's Army service included duty stations across the United States, in Germany, Vietnam and Alaska, and finally with the Corps of Engineers in Tulsa. There, he was honored as Oklahoma's "Conservationist of the Year" by Senator David Boren.
Upon retirement from the military, Tiny worked for the University of Tulsa, and then reinvented himself as a homebuilder, building many unique homes in Tulsa. After a Ducks Unlimited Lifetime Achievement Award, Tiny started NatureWorks with Harold Stuart, erecting numerous wildlife bronzes in Tulsa and the River Parks. Through his efforts, a bronze of the West Point mascot ("Hannibal" the mule) made by Tulsa sculptor David Nunneley now stands at the entrance of the United States Military Academy. Tiny's friends span the globe from beyond the lower 48 states to Alaska, Australia, Germany, Norway and South Africa.
Surviving him are wife, Barbee Tomsen of Inverness Village, Tulsa; her son, Clayton Grayson (Vicky); their daughter, Tara Grayson; Tiny's sister, Betty Kempf (Fred); brother, Jim Tomsen; children, Maj. (ret.) Chris Tomsen (Vera), Dr. Tina Tomsen (Patrick McGownd) and Karla Shahan (Bryan); grandchildren, Ian Shahan, Jan Tomsen, Capt. Erik Tomsen, Maureen Voris, Thomas Shahan, Tucker McGownd, and Eliza McGownd; and great-grandchildren Savannah and Linnea Tomsen. Tiny was preceded in death by his first wife, Dorothy; and brothers, Donald and Chuck Tomsen. A public memorial service is planned for Aug. 6, 2018, at Inverness Village in Tulsa, Okla. Details will be posted at floralhaven.com.
In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to NatureWorks, P.O. Box 52551 Tulsa, OK 74152; or Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, P.O. Box 4557 Des Moines, IA 50305. Memorials are also welcome at https://www.floralhaven.com/obituaries/. When you hear geese honk, cranes whoop, or see baby ducks or a mule: think of Tiny.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Floral Haven Funeral Home, Cemetery & Crematory death notice
6500 S 129th E Ave.
Broken Arrow, OK 74012
918.505.7254
Willis C. Tomsen
Birth Date: January 16, 1932Death Date: June 4, 2018
Services are pending.
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