WATERTOWN, NY —Â Thomas W. Comenole died peacefully March 5, 2022, surrounded by family, at his home in Port Orange, Florida. He was 89.
Tom was born Feb. 24, 1933, a son of Anna May and Harold N. Comenole of Watertown. He was a 1952 graduate of WHS, and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1953, serving as a flight line crew chief at Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY, until 1957.
In 1959, Tom and his brother, Bob, purchased the Texaco Station on Washington Street, Gasoline Row, and faithfully operated Comenole Brother’s Service Station for two decades on the bustling corner of Barben Avenue. He will be long remembered for his fondness for all things automotive. He will be forever remembered, though, for the everlasting joy he took in his Cadillacs. In the music of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard, and in baking his signature rhubarb pie. More than anything, he loved his family, and relished making people laugh. He and his wife Barb could often be seen at one Internet Cafe or another.
He was a communicant of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church in Port Orange.
Tom married Doris L. Davidson in January 1955, and remained wedded until Doris’ death in 1968. He married Barbara J. Gieraltowski June 25, 1988, and remained together until Tom’s death.
Tom is survived by his wife, Barbara; his children, Patricia (Ronald) Holland, Daytona Beach, Susan (Mark) Peterson, West Columbia, SC, and Thomas (Nicole) Comenole, Ormond Beach, Florida; grandchildren, Melissa (George) Auerbach, Jennifer (Steve) Salamone, Andrew Kinner, Hunter (Candace) Peterson, Sierra Peterson, Skye Peterson, and Olivia Comenole; great-grandchildren, Eleanor Auerbach, James Salamone, Sawyer Salamone, Everleigh and Dawson McKinney, and several nieces and nephews; and a sister, Beverly Stewart, Commerce Michigan.
He was predeceased by his parents, Anna, 1985, and Harold, 1993, and a brother Robert F., 2018.
Calling hours will be 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, July 29, at D.L. Calarco Funeral Home, 135 Keyes Avenue. A funeral Mass will be held 10 a.m. Saturday, July 30, at St. Patrick’s Church on Massey Street in Watertown. Burial to immediately follow in Glenwood Cemetery with military honors.
Online condolences may be made to www.dlcalarco.com