H. Thomas Summers March 30, 1924 – December 20, 2018 Mr. H. Thomas Summers died December 20, 2018. Born March 30, 1924, he was the son of C. Thomas and Helen Sanders Summers. He was devoted to Frederick City, the home he loved.
Mr. Summers was a graduate of the first class in the “new” building of Frederick High School in 1941. He attended college at Lebanon Valley and Marshall University and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942 until 1946. He volunteered for the army after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 and hoped to become a pilot.
He trained with Lt. Col. James Doolittle before being called home at the death of his father.
He served as a radio operator-gunner with overseas service in Italy and Africa. He joined the Maryland State Highway Administration in 1948 and retired in 1981 as district chief in charge of land acquisition. He was elected a Frederick City alderman in 1982.
Mr. Summers was chairman of the Frederick City Planning Commission, a board he served for 15 years. He served on multiple city boards and commissions and was an active participant in the historic preservation and promotion of the city. He was president of the Francis Scott Key Memorial Foundation, chairman of the Frederick County Park and Recreation Commission, restoration chairman of Rose Hill Manor, restoration co-chairman of the Hessian Barracks, co-chairman of the Frederick City bicentennial, member of the Civil War Commission, and appointed to the Monocacy Battlefield Commission by the late Congressman Goodloe Byron.
He helped preserve and maintain Rose Hill Manor, Schifferstadt, the Barbara Fritchie House, and the Roger Brooke Taney House and Museum, believing that history is the best teacher. He was a Life Member of VFW Post 3285 and the Frederick Lions Club. He was a past president of the Frederick Cotillion Club.
An avid sportsman, Mr. Summers was a city tennis player from his youth until his failing sight sidelined him. He won the city Junior Tennis Championship at age 15 and was a frequent player on the Fleming Avenue and Second Street tennis courts. An active member of the VFW golf club, he hit a hole in one on the third hole of that course.
He soloed in an aircraft, an Aeronca Champ. A lover of prime rib (center cut, rare), a screwdriver made with freshly squeezed orange juice, the music of Frank Sinatra and the Benny Goodman Orchestra, and Roy Rogers chocolate milkshakes, Mr. Summers had an insatiable curiosity (the man of one-million questions) and a zest for life. He lived his life in downtown Frederick and had homes in Ocean City, Maryland, and Naples, Florida.
He was known as the unofficial mayor of the Excalibur Condominium in Ocean City and of Gulf Pointe on Vanderbilt Beach. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Doris Culler Summers; his son, Thomas C. Summers and wife Robin of Fallston, Maryland; his daughter Julie Summers Walker of Frederick; his son, Jonathan Culler Summers of Born: March 30, 1924 Death: December 20, 2018 Frederick; his grandchildren Ian Thomas Walker of Frederick; Corey Joseph Walker of Washington, D.C.; Kristin Culler Summers of Philadelphia; Heather Summers of College Park; Lindsay Summers of Pittsburgh; and Joel Summers of Frederick; his sister Joan Summers Herner of Tucson, Arizona; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister Beatrice and husband Bob Stup; niece Cynthia Gay Petrlik; brother in law Floyd L. Culler Jr. and wife Della; and brother in law Carl Culler and wife Virginia.
He will be remembered by his many close and fun-loving friends. He always said he had a wonderful life; we will miss him dearly. A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m., on Saturday, January 5, 2019, at the Keeney and Basford Funeral home, 106 East Church Street, Frederick.
Interment with military honors will follow in the Mount Olivet Cemetery, Frederick. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made in his memory to the Francis Scott Key Memorial Foundation, 515 South Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701. Online condolences may be shared at www.
keeneybasford.com.
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