Obituary of Thomas Winjum

Thomas “Tom” George Winjum, 84, of Great Falls, passed away peacefully at home on October 30, 2024. A funeral liturgy will be held on Monday, November 4th at 2:00 PM at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Tom was born in Great Falls, MT, February 22, 1940, to Conrad and Virginia Winjum and was the youngest of 5 children. His parents raised him Catholic, and he attended elementary school at St. Mary’s then attended high school at Central Catholic High School. In 1960, he married his high school sweetheart, Constance Ann Stepman. After high school, Tom worked as a mechanic at Keith’s 66. He later leased the Husky Station on 10th Avenue and then the Standard Station on 2nd Avenue North. Tom worked at Gene’s 9th Street Station and finally the 15th Street Service Center. Tom had many, many loyal customers over the years who only wanted him to work on their cars. He made lots of friends over the years. Together, Tom and Connie raised their four children in the same house on Central Avenue. Tom and Connie enjoyed snowmobiling, vacations at Seeley Lake, and spending time with friends and family. In his younger years, Tom tended to drive too fast, did some racing, demolition derbies, and spent a lot of time under the hood of several hot rods. In 2019, he was able to buy a 56 Chevy that was just like the one he had back in the day. Tom took a lot of trips to the Mountains and did some hunting as well. Many memories were made taking trips to “John’s Cabin” up at Neihart. Tom was a great storyteller. He provided lots of exciting details and kept us on the edge of our seats waiting for the ending. We never got tired of his stories, even the ones we heard 100 times! Fondly known as “Pa Pa” and “Uncle Tom,” he was a great husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. Tom is survived by his wife, Connie; his four children, Tom (Cindy) Winjum, Terri Newman (Doug Mahoney), Traci (Wayne) Hirsch, and Tami Winjum Hoines; and sister, Connie Thompson. He had 10 grandchildren, Jackie (Erin) Claunch, Cody (Amber) Gillespie, Rachael (Sean) Kelley, Johnny Newman, Nathan Hirsch, Heather Hirsch, Darrell (Jodie) Hirsch, Jamie (Barbara) Coston-Hirsch, Lauren (Noah) Salo, and Jess Hoines; 10 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews who he loved dearly. He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Virgie Bennett and her husband Whit; Mary Lee Carte and her husband, Lyle; brother, James Winjum and his wife, Bev; brother-in-law, Jack Thompson; and son-in-law, John Newman. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 201 44th Street S, Great Falls, MT 59405. Condolences for the family may be shared online at www.OConnorFuneralHome.com. “Hey Alexa, play Big Iron!”