Thomas E. Bridge

Thomas E. Bridge was born April 3, 1925, in Campo, Colorado and died October 21, 2022, at Chase County Care and Rehabilitation Center in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.

Tom lived during the dust bowl days and the depression. His father Alfred Bridge died when Tom was 8 years old. Four years later his mother Nettie married John Regnier and they moved to Medicine Lodge, Kansas. He joined the Navy and served in World War II on islands in the Pacific. Upon returning, he married Syble Jane Watson after graduating from high school.

Tom graduated from Kansas State University with a masters in geology in 1950. In 1966, he received his PHD in geochemistry from the University of Texas. He held a variety of jobs in his career: elementary teacher in Keats, Kansas, high school principal in Agenda, Kansas; teacher in Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado; teacher at Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas; professor of geochemistry at Emporia State University until he retired in 1991. Upon retirement, Tom, Syble, and Annie his daughter traveled around the world.

Always one to try new things, he experimented growing grapes, grafting pecan trees, planting trees and engineering the dike around his home in Saffordville to protect it from flooding. However it seemed the floods just got higher.

He enjoyed playing the devil’s advocate with friends. No matter which side of the argument they were on he would take the other side.

Tom’s family was very important to him. He is survived by his wife Syble Bridge in Toledo Township; his daughters, Rebecca Carle, Lynn Ann Bridge, Tammy Jo Hayes and his son, Michael Bridge; eight grandchildren; and his eight great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 26, 2022, at Saffordville United Methodist Church, 1 ½ miles north of highway 50 on YY Road. Memorial donations may be made to Saffordville United Methodist Church, in care of Brown-Bennett-Alexander Funeral Home, PO Box 220 Cottonwood Falls, KS 66845.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Thomas E. Bridge, please visit our floral store.