Thomas H. Mendenhall spent his life in service to his community. He was born on April 12, 1945 to Alice and Bus (Carleton) Mendenhall. His service to the community started from a young age, as a child he was a cub scout, then a boy scout, and as a late teen, an adult leader. He was drafted into the US Army in 1966 and served in Vietnam from 1967-1968. In Vietnam, he started at Camp Radcliff, near to the An Khe district. He was in the 86th Engineer Detachment that was part of the 1st Calvary division. He was part of the team to survey to build new barracks and then motor pool parts coordinator.
When he returned home to East Quogue he joined the fire department of which he was a member for about fifty six years. He served in many different positions during that time including Chief in 1991. He was an also at different times an EMT, Fire Police and ambulance driver. His proudest moment was being elected Chaplin of the Fire Department in 2021.
Tom was a member of the East Quogue United Methodist Church for about sixty years. He was the president of the trustees for many years and a certified lay leader. He restarted the Methodist Men’s group and brought back a cub scout troop to East Quogue, serving on the committee in numerous roles. He was also on the East Quogue Historical Society Board, East Quogue Cemetery Association, Southampton Town Burial Ground Committee for many years. He was also active in the local VFW.
When he was not giving back to the community, he could be found in his office at Mendenhall Fuel of which he was President/ owner for almost 50 years, taking it over after his father retired. He was dedicated to his family. He loved to travel and explore. He loved learning about and visiting places that were important to America’s history as well as his own genealogy. He enjoyed telling jokes and making people laugh. He lived each day grateful for another opportunity to give back and help those around him.