Thomas Edwin Fornear

Thomas Edwin Fornear, 79, died Friday, July 24, 2026, after a brief hospitalization in St. Elizabeth’s.

Tom was born in Compton, California on September 23, 1946, son of the late Frank and Marjorie Link Fornear. He moved to this area as a young boy and attended Austintown Fitch schools, from which he graduated in 1964.

In a life-defining decision, Tom enlisted in the Army in 1966 where he was assigned to Army Security, specializing in Morse code intercept. He was in Hua, Viet Nam in 1967-1968. He finished his service in Germany, again working in intelligence, then intercepting Soviet Bloc communications.

Returning to college on the GI Bill, Tom earned a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University, later adding teaching credentials while engaged in post-grad studies.

In his working years, Tom was most gratified by his job in urban development for Mahoning and Trumbull counties regional government; his teaching in several area schools, but especially his time at Choffin in the Youngstown City School District; and his managerial position at the upscale Temperance House in New Town, PA.

Friends, family, and his best-ever-wife Kerry will always remember Tom as a big personality. He was a consummate card player and a dart god, the quintessential bartender, a studied music aficionado, an encyclopedia of film and television facts, a student as well as a teacher of world and US history, and the original Google to whom friends posed random questions. He was a master of acerbic wit.

Besides his parents, Tom was preceded in death by a son, Matthew, and a sister, Shelley Lynne Fornear.

He is survived by his best friend and loving wife of 36 years, Kerry Angelo; sisters, Judy Fabian and Ellen Fornear; son, Sean (Gina Capobianco) Lacivita; nephew, Michael (Stephanie) Pylypiw; great-nephew, Nicholas Pylypiw;  long-time friend, Jeffrey Crouse; and cats, Nellie and Nate.

As per Tom’s expressed wishes, there will be no traditional services; rather, a memorial party will be held at a later date. If you would like to honor Tom in some small way, a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or any veterans’ group would be fitting.

Arrangements by Cremation & Funeral Service by Gary S Silvat Inc, Send condolences and share memories by visiting cremateohio.com.

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