Thomas A. "Tom" Ladd

Thomas Albert “Tom” Ladd, 90, of Lexington, KY, passed away peacefully on June 20, 2021, at Bluegrass Hospice Care Center in Lexington, after a brief illness.

    He is survived by three daughters, Joan Ladd, Lexington, KY; Elizabeth “Liz” Magedanz (Ben), Versailles, KY; Erin Tadeo (Cirilo), Lexington, KY; one son, Burton “Burt” Ladd (Melanie), Nicholasville, KY; two grandsons, Thomas Simpson (Allison), of Wadsworth, IL, and Travis Simpson (Amanda), Lexington, KY; one great-grandson, Thomas Harlan “Little T” Simpson, Wadsworth, IL, and two soon-to-arrive great-grandchildren, Ford Simpson, Lexington, KY and Madeleine Simpson, Wadsworth, IL. He is also survived by his brother, Lee David “Dave” Ladd (Estelene), Akron, OH, and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews, as well as a special friend, Mildred Evans, of Lexington, KY. He was preceded in death by his parents, Burton Andrew Ladd and Alice Katharine Ladd, St. Louis, MO, and the mother of his children, Nadine Laws, Versailles, KY.

    Tom was born in Miami, AZ, on October 10, 1930, and spent much of his early life in Arizona and New Mexico. Upon graduating from the University of Arizona in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, he entered federal civil service as a Field Representative for the Rural Electrification Administration, United States Department of Agriculture.

After working in Washington, DC, New Mexico, and Wisconsin, Tom transferred to Kentucky in the early 1960s, and began his new assignment working with telephone cooperatives throughout Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. Much of his work involved improving telephone communication service to residents of rural communities, many of which at the time operated under a “party line” service system. He administered federal loans to local telephone cooperatives to develop and expand technological capabilities in order to provide telephone service directly to individual residences. Tom retired from the government in 1986 after 30 years of service.

Upon retirement, he was able to indulge his hobbies of repairing lawnmowers for many of his neighbors, model railroading, and fishing.  He also spent many after-school hours with his two grandsons.

    The family would like to thank all the healthcare professionals who provided care to Tom during his final years as a patient at CHI St. Joseph Health, in particular Dr. Jessica Fairchild, as well as the staff at Bluegrass Hospice Care Center.

    No funeral service is planned, and interment will take place at a later date in Solano Cemetery near Roy, New Mexico.  Hager & Cundiff values nothing more than the trust placed in us to care for Tom and his family.  

This obituary was lovingly submitted by Tom's family.   

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