Thomas Allen Cord

**Thomas Allen Cord** was born on June 11, 1947 and passed away on April 16, 2015. Tom was predeceased by his parents, Frieda and Karl Cord, his brothers, Jerry Cord and Ed Cord and his sister, Ruth Purdum. Tom is survived by his sisters, Janet Gorman and Margaret Jarvis and a host of nieces and nephews. Tom was born at a time when there were very few resources for a person with Down's Syndrome. Undaunted, Frieda and Karl raised Tom just the same way as his other siblings. Frieda drove Tom for over an hour to a school where he was taught by nuns. Karl taught Tom to do chores on the farm, including feeding and watering the cows, chickens, and cats. Tom attended a sheltered workshop in Versailles and later went to New Horizons Sheltered Workshop in Batesville. After Tom's parents had passed, first his dad, and years later his mom, Tom moved to Dayton, Ohio to live with his sister, Janet Gorman, and his niece, Cathy Gorman. Tom worked at Monco, Goodwill, and eventually got a job working in the laundry room of a hotel. Tom retired from his job and began attending the Senior Resource Center, a great place that he absolutely loved. After a bad fall and hospitalization in April of 2014, Tom moved into the Liberty Retirement Center. Tom quickly made many friends, the staff and the residents treated him like a king. He loved going to the dining room to eat, doing activities, and roaming all over the Center in his wheelchair. On April 6, 2015, Tom suffered a stroke and he passed away eleven days later. Tom will be greatly missed by all of his family and friends. Tom never met a stranger, loved to meet new people and make friends. In fact, he once invited the bag boy at the grocery store home for dinner. Tom was also very compassionate and concerned for others. Tom was at a basketball game and he saw the basketball hit one of the cheerleaders in the face. Tom could not stop crying until Cathy took him down to talk to the girl and he knew she was alright. Tom was also cunning, he usually managed to get his way. When he was told he could not take his camera to the Senior Resource Center because it was against the rules, Tom hid the camera outside the night before, grabbed it in the morning, and was on his merry way. Tom had an extraordinary talent with numbers and liked to memorize birthdays. He had every family member's birthday and age memorized. He could even tell what age a person would be in any given year. Tom loved women. He liked to say, "May I?" and then kiss a lady's hand. He proposed to most of the female members of the family and a few others. During a recent visit at his Retirement Center, Tom watched an attractive staff member walk by, then announced to Janet, Cathy, Craig, and David, "Me love me womans!" Tom was a very special man and a loving son, brother, and uncle and a much revered member of his family. Thomas Allen Cord was a good man. Visitation will be Friday, April 24, 2015 at 10:00am at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Milhousen. Mass of Christian Burial follows at 11:00am. Burial will take place in the church cemetery. Arrangements: Stratton-Karsteter Funeral Home Versailles, Indiana. 812-689-1171 P.O. Box 84 Versailles, Indiana 47042.