Obituaries

Thomas “Tom” Thrams, 67, of Iowa City, died peacefully Friday, May 10, 2019 at Cornerstone Hospice in Orlando, Florida, due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.

A Celebration of Tom’s Life will begin at 2:00 pm Saturday, June 15th at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service in Iowa City. Tom’s family sincerely requests no flowers or plants. Please offer memorials to either Iowa City Hospice or Cornerstone Hospice in Orlando whose staffs compassionately walked with Tom through his final steps in life’s journey.

Born March 21, 1952 in Mason City, Iowa, the son of Charles and Sally (Walters) Thrams, Tom grew up in Mason City and graduated from Mason City High School before moving to Iowa City in 1970. Tom received his BA from the University of Iowa College of Business. It was in these years where he met the love of his life, Susie Fransen. Tom and Susie were married August 16, 1975 in Iowa City.

Tom worked for a short time in radio broadcasting before devoting his career to information technology for both the University of Iowa and the Iowa City Community School District, retiring in 2012. Tom was always willing to use his expertise and lend a hand to friends experiencing computer issues – both technical and operator errors!

Involved in his son Jamie’s youth activities, Tom was a Cub Scout leader, a commissioner with Iowa City Kickers, and a president of Lemme Elementary PTA. A skilled tuba player, he was also a member of the Eastern Iowa Brass Band.

Tom and Susie were devoted fans of Walt Disney World, sharing forty trips since they first experienced “the magic” in 1981. Tom was fascinated by Walt’s vision for EPCOT and, as a history buff, he loved The American Adventure. What brought him the greatest satisfaction was sharing Susie’s excitement and pleasure when they stepped into the park. It was out of this love for each other that they were able to experience WDW one more time before Tom entered into hospice care in Orlando – a most fitting celebratory life chapter to their “happily ever after.”

Tom is survived by his wife Susie; son Jamie Thrams (Kate) and their children, Beatrice Thrams and Blythe Thrams, all of Iowa City; his father, Charles Thrams of Mason City; brothers, Mike Thrams (Susan) of Camdenton, Missouri and Jon Thrams (Dawn) of Ft. Dodge, Iowa; sister, Rhonda Pyle (Daryl) of Mason City, Iowa and many nieces and nephews.

Tom was preceded in death by his mother, Sally Thrams, a sister Cindy Behrmann and a brother in law, Jim Fransen.

Susie and Jamie wish to extend their sincere gratitude to Susie’s Alpha Gamma Delta sisters all over the country, Iowa City Team Thrams and Orlando Team Thrams, for the care, support, love and vigilance, provided to Tom and now continuing on to Susie without her beloved Tom.

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