GILROY, Thomas Murrin

The White Mountain Independent, Show Low, Arizona ~ October 18, 2007 Thomas Murrin Gilroy, 86, died Oct. 5, 2007. He was born Sept. 20, 1921, in Austin, Pa., to William Rex Gilroy and Ella Bailey Murrin. Tom graduated from Austin High School as valedictorian in 1939. He attended the University of Notre Dame, St. Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y., (where Thomas Merton was his world history professor) and graduated with a degree in chemistry from Tufts University in Boston. He attended Georgetown Medical School where he and 55 of 60 medical students left classes to join the armed forces when WWII escalated. Tom joined the Naval Air Corps, reaching the rank of second lieutenant. Tom married his college sweetheart, Eleanor Barany, in 1945 at Holy Cross Church in South Bend, Ind. They lived in Austin, Pa., and South Bend, Ind., before moving to Phoenix in 1952. Tom was an active member of St. Francis Xavier Parish for 16 years and a real estate broker in Arizona for 55 years. Tom and Eleanor moved to their cabin in Lakeside in 1980 and opened an antique store in Pinetop, "Ye Olde Curiosity Shop." They retired to Snowflake in 1990 where Tom owned Tom Gilroy and Associates. Tom loved family gatherings, especially the reunions at Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July, fishing in his boyhood home of Austin, Pa., and Greer and cheering for Notre Dame and the Diamondbacks. Tom is survived by his wife, Eleanor of 61 years; his three children, James (Mary Poirier) Gilroy, Kathleen (Dennis) Desmond, and Kristine "Tina" (Jeff) Baldwin; nine grandchildren, David, Julia and Peter Gilroy, Ryan (Katherine) and Megan Desmond, Colleen Baldwin (Blake) Reidhead, Becky, Todd (Clarissa) and Steven Baldwin; five great-grandchildren Bailey and Casey Reidhead, Justin and Bradley "Thomas" Baldwin, Riley Baldwin; and his first great-granddaughter, "baby girl" Desmond, due on Thanksgiving Day. A mass of resurrection was held Oct. 8 in Snowflake. Donations can be made in Tom's name to Our Lady of the Snow Catholic Church - Hall Fund, 1654 South Main Street, Snowflake, AZ 85937 or RTA Hospice, 1789 W. Commerce Dr., Lakeside, AZ 85929. "We'll miss you Papa Tom!"
Posted by Sharla on August 30, 2010

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