T.L. Waggoner Elementary School

Thomas Leroy (Tom) Waggoner was born on July 12, 1941 in Los Angeles, California. He was one of two children of Stanley and Marion Waggoner.
Tom grew up in the L.A. area. He graduated from San Gabriel High School and attended Occidental College in L.A. in 1962. Tom and Diane had two children, Dana Ann and Thomas Bradley. The marriage ended in 1970, and Tom went to live with his parents in Carmichael, California. Tom and his father both worked at Union Oil, and Tom was transferred to the Geothermal Division in Imperial Valley in 1974. He purchased a 15 acre ranch on Ralph Road in Imperial and lived there until he remarried. In 1987 he married Maria Micalizio and moved to an area near Desert Estates in El Centro. Tom and Maria lived there until July 22, 1989, when an automobile accident claimed his life 10 days after his 48th birthday.

 

Two months prior to his death, Tom was promoted to vice-president of the geothermal division of UNOCAL Corporation. Throughout his years in the Imperial Valley, he was involved in many community and civic organizations. He was a Mason, a Shriner, and a member of the READY Commission, which encouraged regional economic development. Tom also purchased and leased plots of land throughout the valley to farmers, including the land on which the T.L. Waggoner Elementary School is built. Tom had a passion for hunting and fishing, and was a member of Ducks Unlimited and many other organizations. He was a committed father and instilled in his children the importance of a quality education. He had a good sense-of-humor which was his anecdote for everything.

 

He is survived by his sister, Carol Dickerson, his first wife, Diane Abrams, his second wife, Maria Waggoner, his daughter, Dana Prechtl and her husband, Dave, two grandchildren, Heather and Shane Prechtl, his son, Thomas Waggoner and his wife, Tammy, and grandchild, Lauren Waggoner, who attended Waggoner Elementary. Now, how cool is that?!