Howard "Tom" Ammon

Howard Thomas Ammon, Tom to everyone who knew him, always embraced life. He was a hard and devoted worker, employed for over forty-four years at General Motors, and a caring father and husband. Throughout his life, he worked very hard to provide for the people that he loved, his wife, children, and grandchildren. His personality was marked by kindness and amiableness, and he was a good friend to many.

Tom was born in Muncie, Indiana on January 6, 1933, the youngest of six children to Alfred and Faye. Born in the ‘30s, he grew up during the most challenging economic crisis in American history. On account of the Great Depression, life was sometimes difficult for the Ammon family, as it was for most Americans at the time. From a young age, Tom sought employment to bring money into the household and help his family. At nine years old, he started a paper route which he continued for three years, until he was twelve. True to his character, Tom never allowed work to spoil his ability to have fun and enjoy life. As a young boy, he liked to fish with his friends and his father. He got along very well with his siblings, and he especially enjoyed teasing his sisters. They were never able to get revenge on Tom, at least not until after he had fallen asleep. In his junior year of high school, he attempted to join the Navy but was not accepted. He then decided to find a steady job, and in 1951, when he was eighteen years old, he began working for Delco Remy, a division of General Motors. At about the same time, Tom got married. Though the marriage only lasted a short while, it provided Tom with two sons, Tommy and Michael.

When Tom was a teenager, he worked as an usher at Rivoli’s Theater in Muncie to earn a little extra money. Years later, when he was twenty-three, Tom decided to visit this old Theater in Muncie, and here he met the love of his life, Volena Tapley. They were soul mates, and they realized this almost immediately. On September 15, 1956, they got married, a marriage that would have reached forty-eight years in another month. He brought his two boys into his home with Volena, and Michael and Tommy always considered her to be their own mother and referred to her by that title. Tom and Volena had two more children together, Katrina and April. Although Tom always wanted to spend time with Volena and his kids, he usually worked seven days a week to provide for them. When he had free time, he would spend it in the company of his family. On Saturdays, when his boys were young, Tom liked to spend the morning eating donuts, drinking milk, and watching the “Three Stooges” with them. He always enjoyed watching movies, especially Westerns, and his favorite actors were John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.

In the mid-sixties, General Motors decided to transfer Tom to the Fischer Body Plant on Sprinkle Road. He headed up to Michigan with his entire family, and they settled in Vicksburg. He and his family joined the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints on Drake Road, and he also belonged to the Masonic Lodge in Athens. Tom was a faithful member of the Mormon religion all of his life. As Tom grew older, and as his children grew older, he was rewarded with seventeen grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. He loved his grandchildren very deeply, and for each child’s tenth birthday, he gave them a brand new bicycle. He liked spending time with his grandkids, and you could often see him playing basketball with them. Tom always made friends very easily—he had the sort of personality that made him a pleasure to be around. He loved to fish, and he enjoyed this hobby the most when he was in the company of his family. Traveling was also something that he enjoyed very much, and his favorite state to visit was Kentucky. Often times you could see Tom eating ice cream, his favorite food, and listening to Johnny Cash. He had an impeccable sweet tooth, and as with everything in his life, he loved to share it with his family.

Tom Ammon, age 71 of Vicksburg, died July 27, 2004. Learn more about Tom, view his Life Story film, and visit with his family and friends Saturday from 1 to 3 PM at the ™ - Rupert, Durham Marshall & Gren Life Story Funeral Home, Vicksburg Chapel. Funeral services will be held Saturday 3 PM at the same location. Members of Howard’s family include his wife of 48 years, Volena; four children and spouses: Tommy and Terri Ammon, of Comstock; Michael Ammon, of Shelbyville; Katrina and Lee Standish, of Vicksburg; April and William English, of Constantine. He is also survived by his 17 grandchildren, 11 Great Grandchildren; Three brothers: Gene Ammon, of Muncie, IN; Don Ammon, of FL; Robert Ammon, of Muncie, IN; Two Sisters: JoAnn Bilbrey, of Muncie, IN; Marcella Ammon, of Muncie, IN. Numerous Nieces and Nephews. Please visit Howard’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you can read his life story, archive a favorite memory, order flowers or make a memorial donation to the American Heart Association.

He will be remembered by his children as a great man. He was a very generous and giving person.