Thomas C. Habel's Obituary
Thomas C. Habel, 82, of Charlotte died August 16, 2024. He was born on June 23, 1942 in Buffalo, NY to the late Harry and Marie Habel.
Tom lived a full and interesting life. He was born to Harry and Marie Habel from Kitchner, Ontario Canada and grew up in Cheektowaga, NY with his older brother Dick and sister Mary Jane. After high school he joined the Navy and traveled the world for four incredible years on several ships, including the USS Intrepid. He and his wife Kathy married in 1969 and settled in Homer NY where they adopted two children, Mike and Jen. He joined the NY State Police where he served for 31 years before retiring as Zone Sergeant. He was a very active dad, coaching his kid’s baseball and softball teams and traveling for Mike’s lacrosse and wrestling leagues for many years. Tom loved to go bowling, fish and water ski on his boat, enjoy his friends at the Elks club, play tennis with his family, golf and travel. He tried his hand at brewing beer and wine as well as woodworking and was a wiz at crossword and sudoku puzzles. His favorite vacations were always where he could tour Navy ships and submarines, and he was able to attend a space shuttle launch at NASA in Florida. He and Kathy lived in Homer and Binghamton NY, Jacksonville FL and Fredericksburg VA, before moving to Charlotte NC. Once retired, he and Kathy traveled to Europe, the Caribbean, and around the US. They were married for 55 years. Tom was a great husband, an amazing dad, and a much-loved Grandpa.
Survivors include his wife, Kathleen Habel; son, Mike and wife, JoEllen of Concord; daughter, Jen Kuhn and husband David of Prattsburgh, NY; grandchildren Alex, Joey and Ben Habel (Mike) and Charlie Habel and Tom Kuhn (Jen), and sister-in-law Mary Lou Habel.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation (www.Parkinson.org) in Tom’s name.
A funeral mass will be held Tuesday, 8/20/24 at 11:00am at St. Mark Catholic Church. He will be laid to rest on Thursday 8/22/24 at 11:00 am at Salisbury National Cemetery.
James Funeral Home of Huntersville is serving the family.
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