Thom Guillory Memorial Scholarship Fund
Donation protected
Thomas (Thom) A. Guillory has transitioned in life, returning to his Lord the morning of May 3, 2021. This comes after a cardiac arrest that occurred 2.5 weeks prior that he never woke up from. Thom was an incredible engineer, father, husband, friend and human being.
Thom is originally from the small rural town of Mallet, Louisiana and always said "his only way off the farm would be through a book". Being the youngest of 13, he had to earn everything he got. He always mentioned how thankful he was for the grants, scholarships and gifts he received early on that even allowed for his opportunity to go to college. His life was cut short as he was not done making an impact.
With the permission of Thom's family, I created this GoFundMe to honor Thom and carry on his legacy. The most fitting tribute would be to give back to high school students that are seeking "a way off the farm through a book". Through GoFundMe, your non-deductible donation will help setup a scholarship fund in Thom's name. The funds raised will be transferred via the family to the Garland Education Foundation*. The goal of this fundraiser is set at $20,000 which is the minimum for an endowment/annual scholarship via the Garland Education Foundation. If we raise that much, AWESOME , as it would allow us to setup a reoccurring annual scholarship for ever more. If we do not reach that goal, we will provide as many one time scholarships as we can with the money raised, still awesome.
Thom had a long and impactful engineering career that spanned 37 years. For most of those years he worked for the City of Garland (21 years) and the City of Plano. He viewed his work as a public servant was to insure that the City he worked for was being built safely and intelligently to provide a bigger and better community. His main goal was to strive and protect all of the citizens now and in the future that all of the projects he was involved in would be the best possible and not leave the citizens with a problem in the future. He wanted to be proud to drive his daughter around Garland and show her what all he had an influence in.
Thom wanted projects to move forward but never at the expense of getting it right. He was 100% dedicated to doing it the right way. As an engineer, he upheld the Professional Engineer's oath of "Engineers shall be entrusted to protect the health, safety, property and welfare of the public in the practice of their profession". The impact he had as an Engineer is tremendous as some of Plano and a lot of Garland would not look and function the way it does today if not for his services.
Whether you were family, friend, coworker, fellow engineer, engineering firm working with Thom, developer with projects in Plano or Garland or a friend of his wife or daughter, on behalf of Thom, consider donations here in addition to or in lieu of flowers to have a lasting impact.
Please remember Linda, Jordan and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Please share this with anyone that may have known Thom.
*NOTE: If you would like your donation to be tax deductible, let me know and I may be able to have you donate directly to the Garland Education Foundation (working through the details).
Humbly,
Rahman Kafray, P.E.
Development Engineer
City of Garland
PS-
I am thankful to have spent the last 8 years working with Thom as my mentor where he taught me a lot about engineering and how to work as a public servant. But above that, I am blessed to have had the past 8 years to get to know such a good friend to me, my wife and my two kids. He is already missed.
Thom is originally from the small rural town of Mallet, Louisiana and always said "his only way off the farm would be through a book". Being the youngest of 13, he had to earn everything he got. He always mentioned how thankful he was for the grants, scholarships and gifts he received early on that even allowed for his opportunity to go to college. His life was cut short as he was not done making an impact.
With the permission of Thom's family, I created this GoFundMe to honor Thom and carry on his legacy. The most fitting tribute would be to give back to high school students that are seeking "a way off the farm through a book". Through GoFundMe, your non-deductible donation will help setup a scholarship fund in Thom's name. The funds raised will be transferred via the family to the Garland Education Foundation*. The goal of this fundraiser is set at $20,000 which is the minimum for an endowment/annual scholarship via the Garland Education Foundation. If we raise that much, AWESOME , as it would allow us to setup a reoccurring annual scholarship for ever more. If we do not reach that goal, we will provide as many one time scholarships as we can with the money raised, still awesome.
Thom had a long and impactful engineering career that spanned 37 years. For most of those years he worked for the City of Garland (21 years) and the City of Plano. He viewed his work as a public servant was to insure that the City he worked for was being built safely and intelligently to provide a bigger and better community. His main goal was to strive and protect all of the citizens now and in the future that all of the projects he was involved in would be the best possible and not leave the citizens with a problem in the future. He wanted to be proud to drive his daughter around Garland and show her what all he had an influence in.
Thom wanted projects to move forward but never at the expense of getting it right. He was 100% dedicated to doing it the right way. As an engineer, he upheld the Professional Engineer's oath of "Engineers shall be entrusted to protect the health, safety, property and welfare of the public in the practice of their profession". The impact he had as an Engineer is tremendous as some of Plano and a lot of Garland would not look and function the way it does today if not for his services.
Whether you were family, friend, coworker, fellow engineer, engineering firm working with Thom, developer with projects in Plano or Garland or a friend of his wife or daughter, on behalf of Thom, consider donations here in addition to or in lieu of flowers to have a lasting impact.
Please remember Linda, Jordan and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Please share this with anyone that may have known Thom.
*NOTE: If you would like your donation to be tax deductible, let me know and I may be able to have you donate directly to the Garland Education Foundation (working through the details).
Humbly,
Rahman Kafray, P.E.
Development Engineer
City of Garland
PS-
I am thankful to have spent the last 8 years working with Thom as my mentor where he taught me a lot about engineering and how to work as a public servant. But above that, I am blessed to have had the past 8 years to get to know such a good friend to me, my wife and my two kids. He is already missed.
Fundraising team (2)
Abdul Rahman Kafray
Organizer
Garland, TX
Lisa Cox
Beneficiary
Linda Guillory
Team member
