William Thomas 'Tom' Glover King

William Thomas King, born on June 3, 1928 in Charleston, South Carolina, known as 'Tom', passed away peacefully at the age of 90 on Tuesday, February 26, 2019 in Lake Forest, California surrounded by his family.Born to John Heyward Glover and Margaret Bellinger Warren Glover, he had one twin brother; John 'Jack' Heyward Glover King.Tom is survived by his wife Nancy King, three daughters from a previous marriage Kristine, Judith and Karen as well as two step-children Joanna and Daniel,. Together Tom and Nancy have seven grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

Tom's early years were spent on a farm in Walterboro, SC, which his father managed.A tragic farm accident took his father's life at the young age of 31.Unable to take on the role of managing the farm, Tom's Mother, Margaret moved into the City of Charleston, SC to live with her relatives.She had to work to support the twin boys, so she worked sewing overalls for the CCC camps, earning about $1.00 a day—this was depression times.When the boys were not attending school, they were basically left unattended running and playing in the park and streets.Other family members encouraged Margaret to place the boys in the Charleston Orphan House, where they would be supervised, provided an education, food and shelter, and also taught strong work and social ethics.So, at age 9 both Tom and his brother Jack were placed in the orphanage.Unlike many horrible stories of other orphanages, COH was well managed, staffed, and respected and supported by the local community.Local merchants and others of better financial means made sure the orphanage had adequate funding and staffing.

Tom was a born Artist, gifted by God; he began to sketch at the young age of just 6 years old. During his residence at the COH, his talents were recognized by the superintendent, Miss Dora Sweatman, who arranged for Tom to be awarded his first art class under a private art teacher at Murray's Studio. Tom's first scholarship was from the Charleston Museum of Fine Art.At age 16, Margaret sent for the boys to join her and her new husband, Lawrence King on the West Coast.So, Tom and his brother traveled alone on the train to the LA area, joining their Mother and step-dad in Laguna Beach, California.Margaret had the boys legally change their surname to "King". Tom enjoyed his time in the beautiful town of what he and his brother would refer to as "Labena Guch".Tom was not afraid of hard work. He worked throughout high school to help support his family rising at 4am to fold newspapers as well as after school and weekends at Bob's Ice Cream Shop on Laguna's Main beach as a self-proclaimed 'Soda Jerk'.Tom was also athletic, playing on his High School football team, boxed and was later also a member of the schools' cheer-leading squad. He finished high school at Laguna Beach High School where he was voted Best Artist for his Class of 1949 ('49ers).

Tom continued his education at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California and at LA Trade Tech College, studying technical illustrations, blueprint reading, and airbrush illustration, as well as Life Study in oil painting at El Camino College. Tom later attended additional engineering classes at Fullerton State College to accommodate his transfer at work from Graphics into Engineering.

During Tom's 33 plus years at his employer Rockwell International, he worked in the Graphic Arts Department on technical drawings, photo retouching, renderings of aircraft drawings including fighter jets and flight manual illustrations, color renderings of the Saber-liner Commercial executive jet structure and interiors, and inertial navigation guidance systems for atomic subs, MX Missile, GPS System and the B-1 Bomber. Tom closed his career as an Electro-Mechanical Designer on the Space Shuttle, rendering engineering drawings for the Space Shuttle payload cargo bay.Shortly after his official retirement, Tom was called back (spent another nine years as contract labor) to support the engineering/drafting efforts on the Russian docking system, enabling space shuttle hook-up to the MIR Space Station.

When not working, as a younger man, he enjoyed taking his daughters swimming in the ocean at Laguna, Sunday drives, camping, BBQing and visiting with family. He also enjoyed tennis and spent time on the tennis courts teaching his daughters to play.Tom also proved to be quite good with his hands building patios, laying bricks at the family home in Anaheim, and even built a playhouse for his daughters.

Later in life Tom enjoyed traveling the world with his wife Nancy and visiting family across the USA.He attended several Glover family reunions in his beloved Charleston, SC.In his retirement, Tom went back to what he loved most – painting. He continued his oil paintings and miniature water color comprehensives whenever he could manage to squeeze it, enjoying leisurely painting from his studio in Laguna Woods Village.One large original painting, The Zealot of Masada, is hanging at the International Christian Embassy headquarters in Jerusalem, Israel.

Above all, Tom was a devoted Christian and loved the Lord. He created the stain glass for South Coast Christian Assembly, as well doing many other art projects including the architectural rendering of the then new South Coast Christian Assembly church in San Juan, California.He also served the Lord in ministering in the Gleaners' Jail Ministry and Orange County Rescue missions for over 10 years. He came alongside as a co-leader, with his wife Nancy, in the Crown Financial Ministry.Most recently, he was an active member at the Village Church in Laguna Woods.

Services will be held Friday, March 8th, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. at McCormick & Sons mortuary in Laguna Woods followed by an honored guard burial at Ascension Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. in El Toro.



In keeping with Tom's wishes, and his desire for all to know God, in lieu of flowers, please donate in Memory of Tom King, to the Gideons Int'l.

Tom's favorite Scripture

Matthew 4:4: "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

Gideons International https://www.gideons.org/