Thomas David Haynes

Thomas David Haynes entered the gates of Heaven on Sunday, August  13, 2023.

Tom was born on December 21, 1946, to the late James “Jim” Captain Haynes and Lue Denton Haynes.

From a young age, Tom was called to be a patriot and civic leader. He earned the title of Eagle Scout in high school. He later served as a Combat Medic and Surgical Technician in the Vietnam War before concluding his military commitment at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Post-military, Tom enrolled in Appalachian Regional Hospital’s School of Professional Nursing, where he met his wife, Sherry Presley. They married, and both passed their board exams in 1971.

In 1974, the love of their life was born, Lesley Danita (Haynes) Richardson. In 1988, Tom enjoyed a short retirement from UMWA but quickly found that retirement at 52 was unsuitable for him. He returned to work that same year as a Regional Injury Prevention Coordinator at the University of Kentucky’s Injury Prevention and Research Center, taking on numerous projects focused on ensuring the safety of others and his community.

Tom followed in his father’s footsteps as a volunteer firefighter. He has been a Neon Volunteer Fire Department member since 1975, serving as both Assistant Chief and Captain.
Tom was a member of the Loyal Masonic Lodge #930 and Neon Lonesome Pine Lodge #884 and a member of Millstone Missionary Baptist Church since October 2007.

Of all Tom’s accomplishments, he was most proud of his grandsons. Thomas Drew Richardson is a medical student at the University of Kentucky, and Jonathan Clay Richardson studies business at Bluefield University.

Tom was a community pillar loved and respected by everyone who knew him. His extended family especially loved Tom, so much so that he considered them his very own: Anita (deceased) and Alfredo Aris, Gail and Danny (deceased) Justice, Eula and Tom (deceased) Blankenship, Tinley, and Ellyn Presley, and Tammy and Phil Warren.

Tom is also preceded in death by his cousin Charles “Chuck” Denton, who was raised as a brother to him and his beloved mother- and father-in-law, Cecil and Nettie Presley.
In addition to his wife, Sherry, daughter and son-in-law Lesley and Jonathan Richardson, and grandsons Drew and Clay Richardson, Tom is also mourned by his Cabin Creek Family and the Neon Community.

Funeral 12:00 O'clock Noon Wednesday, August 16, 2023, at the Millstone Missionary Baptist Church with Bill Craft and Mark Wagner officiating. Visitation 6:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. Tuesday, August 15, 2023, at the Millstone Missionary Baptist Church. Burial will follow in the Cabin Creek Family Cemetery at Thornton, Kentucky.