Mr. Thomas McPhatter was born on December 24, 1935 in Wagram, North Carolina to the late Aster M. Johnson and Tom McPhatter. Thomas departed this life on December 08, 2022 at the Workmen’s Circle Multicare Center in Bronx, New York, where he was in rehab after a brief illness. He was raised in Elizabethtown, North Carolina and was taught in the Bladen County School system.
At age 20, Thomas decided to move to New York for a better life after his friend who had been living there for the last year told him how great it was. Once there, Thomas began working at Manhattan Shoe Repair Shop as a shoe dyer and repairman. He stayed a loyal and faithful employee for 40 plus years.
Through mutual friends at the age of 21, he met his soulmate and love of his life, Vivian Rose McDougald (Sweet) who was a single mother of a young son, Greg. On August 9th, 1957 Thomas and Vivian were united in marriage and remained married for 54 years until her untimely death, June 2012. Through this union they had one daughter Viccki Tonnette.
In February 2005, Thomas and Vivian retired and moved back to Lumberton where he enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the south. He loved working in the yard and talking to his neighbors. Thomas loved to tell a good story and or a joke, he loved to laugh and make people laugh. His favorite pastimes were watching old Westerns and Court shows. On 2016, when Hurricane Matthew stuck Robeson County and flooded Lumberton, Thomas relocated to Bronx, New York to live with his daughter. He leaves to cherish his memory, his devoted daughter, Vicci Tonnette McPhatter, two grandsons Gregory A. and Preston McDougald and five great grandchildren.
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