Thomas Paul DeYoung

DeYoung, Thomas Paul

March 21, 1944 – June 5, 2026

Thomas Paul DeYoung Sr. passed away on 6/5/26 at home in Newark, NY. He is survived by his loving wife of nearly 60 years, Tish; 3 sons, Tom Jr. of Revere, MA, Mark (Laura) of Marion, NY, and Jason (Elizabeth) of Las Vegas, NV; 3 grandchildren; sisters Alice Wile of Sarasota, FL, and Mary DeYoung of Bradenton, FL. He is also survived by many other family members and many local superstar friends.

Tom was born in Marilla, NY, to unknown parents and was later adopted by Harold & Julia DeYoung of Akron, NY. He grew up in a loving family and a life filled with education and especially the sport he loved – swimming. He grew up working on the family farm and swimming in his Uncle Ben's farm pond at the end of dusty, long days. He parlayed that into a high school career where he owned 13 of the 20 school records when he graduated from Akron in 1962. He then went to Plattsburgh State where he had a Hall of Fame career that was capped by an invitation to compete in the 1968 Olympic Trials.

Known as a dedicated teacher who loved what he did, Tom taught 6th Grade Science at Newark Middle School for 35 years. He was nominated for various awards like the Consortium for NASA award and the Disney Teacher Award. He was for many years the K-12 Supervisor of the Science department. During that time, he served many years in the teacher's union and started different ways of teaching middle school science. He was the Varsity Swimming coach for the first 10 years of his career and started youth swimming in Newark, which turned into the Wahoos club. He also patrolled the decks of the Newark Country Club pool for many summers.

Besides being inducted into his High School Hall of Fame, he was inducted into the Plattsburgh State Hall of Fame, as well as the Section V Swimming Hall of Fame for his many years as a coach, assistant coach, and an official. He was a Section V chairman of swimming and the Section V chair for all Modified sports for many years.

Tom's faith was the most important thing to him, with his wife and family being a close second. He first served many years in roles at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Newark, as well as Warden. He was later a Deacon at the 2nd Reformed Church in Marion.

Services will be held at Faith Fellowship in Marion later this summer. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to the amazing servants of the Laurel House at 224 Fair St., Newark, NY 14513. www.murphyandsonsfuneralhome