Thomas Gilkeson

Lt. Col. Thomas "T.C." Gilkeson went to meet his heavenly Father on October 9, 2018, after a short and courageous battle with cancer. T.C. was born August 6, 1942 to Frances and Mattie Gilkeson in Fairfield, VA. He attended school in the Fairfield area and graduated from Virginia Tech in 1963. On March 16, 1964, T.C. entered into the Air Force as a 2nd Lt. After completing pilot training at Laughlin AFB, he was assigned to Mountain Home AFB where he was deployed to Vietnam, flying the F-4C Phantom II. After Vietnam, he was stationed at Nellis AFB and then back to Mountain Home AFB where he received the "Iron Man" award for logging 3000 hours in the F-111 from General Dynamics. T.C. went on to serve in Korea. He attended Air War College in Alabama then went on to Rheindahlen, Germany and then to Shaw AFB. He deployed to serve in Desert Storm for nine months. Thomas retired on June 1, 1992. He returned to Boise where he worked for Rocky Mountain Air and Western Air Express as a pilot. He married Jenny Warren on Sept 4, 1964 and had two sons, Thomas Jr. and James. They later divorced and T.C. married Linda Young with her four children: Bryan, Wade, Greg and Cathy on January 13, 1979. Thomas was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Don. He is survived by his wife, Linda; brother, David; six children, and thirteen grandchildren. A memorial will be held at a later date. "Fly high and soar with the eagles."