Our precious little brother Thomas Lee Hanson, 59, of Roswell, NM left this earthly place June 22, 2017.

He longed to be with his brothers and parents. We pray now that this very bright, amazing man is now in the comfort of his family and his Lord.

Tom was a very accomplished man, even from a young age. He loved to invent things like rockets. When little, we nicknamed him the “bombadeer”. As he grew to a man, he received his degree in physics from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Not long after, he went to work for Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, CA. After Hughes, he worked for other defense contractors. Some of his greatest accomplishments is that he helped build parts of the electrical bus that powered the computer on the Mars Rover, which still moves on that red planet today. We always knew, when he was busy building Van de Graaff generators and Tesla coils, in our parent’s basement while still in high school that he was destined for big accomplishments.

And yet, with all of these serious accomplishments, he still had a bright wonderful sense of humor. He could imitate people, making you laugh so hard you could hardly breathe.

God bless this precious soul who was a gift to us all. We will miss you, Tom. Please remember us in your better place.

Tom is survived by 2 sisters, Caroline (al) Scovel, Marilyn(Keith) Stoddard all of Rapid City and numerous nephews and nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents and 2 brothers.