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ong time Oriental resident Tom Lathrop died at home May 21, 2025. He was 93.

“He’s all in this house,” Liz said of her late husband Tom, “everywhere you look, everything you see.” She sits at her dining room table with her sons Mark and Tim. A wood and paper light fixture hangs above them. It matches the wall sconces positioned near the wide wooden staircase, designed to allow air to flow between the first and second floors.

Tom Lathrop.

In an upper window is a stain-glass heron; the first piece of stained glass Tom Lathrop ever attempted, Liz explained. The stairs, the light fixtures, the dragon carved into the handmade front door, several pieces of furniture – all were designed and crafted by Tom.

The Lathrop family sit in the house that Tom built.

“It was built on passive solar principles, way before people were using that kind of thing,” Tim said. “ The southern and western exposure has a lot of glass to heat it in the wintertime, and due to the angle of the sun in summertime, it doesn’t get as much.” Tom built the home with it’s exact latitude and longitude in mind, “and all the angles are correct.”

Tom and his son Tim on the National Mall. They participated in Honor Flight where Tom was honored for his service during the Korean War.

Tom Lathrop was born in Sumter County, South Carolina in 1931. Tom left high school at 17 to serve in the Navy aboard the USS Duncan from 1949-1953. After his service, he used the GI Bill to study at the University of South Carolina, earning a degree in electrical engineering.

He met Liz, his wife of more than sixty years, while studying at USC. They met, she says, through the Baptist Church. “He’s not very religious,” Liz said, “but he went there to meet girls.”

It worked. He met and married Liz in 1957, between Tom’s sophomore and junior years. They moved into a very ‘shabby’ apartment that would shake when neighbors ran the washing machine. “We didn’t have much money, but we had fun.”

After his graduation, Tom was hired by Bell Labs. The Lathrops moved to Raleigh, where Tom pursued a masters degree at NC State University. During this time, sons Mark and Tim were born. Tom began to look for hobbies the whole family could enjoy. It was how they became involved in sailing and soapbox derbies.

“He went to the library and anything about sailing, he read,” said Liz. Their first outing sailing wasn’t the leisurely trip Liz expected. “We went out for a race. I never learned how to sail because we just started racing.”

Liz and Tom Lathrop christening MV Liz – a boat of his own design.

Mark was six when the family began sailing. He wasn’t thrown into the races like Liz. Instead, Tom built him an eight foot Optimus Pram. “And I just loved it,” said Mark. “It’s something I’ve been doing my entire life.”

As with everything else, Tom paid attention to the details. He’d ordered a 15.5 foot Windmill sailing dinghy and decided the vessel could be improved.

Together, Tim and Tom built the soapbox derby racer that won the Greensboro, NC race, qualifying Tim for the nationals in Akron, Ohio.

He drafted a new design, creating a lighter and faster version. Tom’s improved boats took the top three spots in the Windmill Championship races on Chesapeake Bay, with Mark taking first place in a boat his father created.

Through sailing and the derbies,Tom taught his sons “all about building things and design,” said Mark.

The family eventually moved to Georgia, where Tom became involved in a woodworking club. His hobby became a passion, elevating him to the status of Master Craftsman. He put his skills to the test, building the family’s home in Oriental.

Tom had several professional achievements. He built underwater communications systems for Bell Labs and designed tools to detect the direction of subterranean currents for Western Electric. He even holds a patent for some of his work.

A Great Heron hangs in the window of the Lathrop home. Liz says it was Tom’s first attempt at stained glass.

But his family remembers the time he spent with them and for them.

Their home, built in Oriental between 1987 – 89, reflected thoughtful choices for comfortable living. But it also included details reflecting the community and Tom’s love for Liz. A dragon, Oriental’s mascot, is carved into the front door. A handmade music box and a trinket box he made for Liz are on display, one with a Canadian Loonie (a one-dollar coin) inlaid in the lid.

His first Bluejacket boat design, named after his wife, has an avocet painted on the floorboards. Liz is an avid birder and the avocet is one of her favorites.

Tom was always busy, always involved in some project or another. He taught himself to make hand-held mirrors and fixed-blade knives. Tom thought the mirrors were “the best thing he ever carved, ever mass produced,” said Tim. “ He got into making very nicely balanced knives with beautiful wood handles and beautiful leather sheaths.”

Some of those mirrors and knives were given to friends as gifts. “He thought a lot of other people before he thought of himself,” said Tim. “If anybody ever did anything for him, they were repaid a hundred fold in unexpected ways.”

Sitting at the table, in the house that Tom built, his family remembered him as he was: in their words, as an adventurous, stubborn, loving, and curious man that loved his family.

Tom Lathrop.

The Lathrops hold a celebration of life at their home on Morris Creek, Sunday, May 25 at 3p. You’re invited to stop by, have a beer, and share your stories.

TownDock.net interviewed Tom in 2021 about his workshop and MV Liz. You can read it here.

Posted Sunday May 25, 2025 by Allison DeWeese