Obituary of Thomas Newton Makepeace

Thomas Newton Makepeace, long-time resident of Arlington, VA and Washington, DC, died peacefully on February 3, 2024; he was 90 years old.

Born on May 18, 1933 in Bentleyville, Pennsylvania, he was the son of William Edward Makepeace and Frances Newton Makepeace.  He had a younger sister, Suzanne who predeceased Mr. Makepeace.  Tom and Sue grew up on their maternal grandparents’ farm in the Bentleyville area. Tom often described their early years “as being somewhat feral,” but he was surrounded by lots of family. Eventually his immediate family moved into Charleroi where Tom graduated from Charleroi High School in 1951.

Before being drafted into the US Army in 1953, Tom attended Ohio University. In the army Tom served in Korea as the Korean Conflict was coming to an end. Soon after being discharged, he moved to Washington, DC and went to work for the Office of Education, then part of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). In the early 1960’s Tom moved to New York City and worked for Remington Rand Corporation, going to design school at night. Come the mid-60s, Tom moved back to DC and went back to work for what was now the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) with the National Center for Health Statistics where he was an Operations Manager.

In 1980 Tom moved from DC to Arlington and upon retirement from the government in 1985 started his own interior design business. For the next 20 years he worked as a designer and artisan taking on all aspects including specialty painting and furniture finishing.

Tom loved travel and entertaining, spending time in South Florida most winters, and from childhood through adulthood spent summer vacations at Rehoboth Beach, DE and Fire Island, NY. Friends remember Tom for his quick wit and repartee, making him the life of many a party.

A celebration of his life is being planned for late in April. Tom has requested his ashes to be placed in Arlington National Cemetery which will occur at a later date.