Obituary of Tommy W. Young

Memorial Services for Thomas Wayne "Tommy" Young, 52 of Plainview, Tx, will be held 10:00 am Thursday, March 21, 2024 at Southcrest Baptist Church with Rev. Dennis Swarb and Dr. Jerry Newman officiating. Cremation and Services are under the direction of Abell Funeral Home & Flower Shop. Thomas Wayne “Tommy” Young entered into the presence of Jesus on Sunday, March 17, 2024, surrounded by family and friends. He was born August 8, 1971, in Lubbock, Texas, and attended schools there, graduating from Coronado High School in 1989. He began attending Southcrest Baptist Church as a fourth-grader, thanks to the bus ministry run by Wilburn Coffman. There, he was taken in by many families who loved and nurtured him to adulthood and led him to the Lord. He served with the children’s ministry and was an active member of the youth group and then the college and singles ministry. In 1997, he met Teresa Cox in the Southcrest singles group and the two married August 29, 1998. They celebrated their 25th anniversary with a trip to Washington, D.C., in August 2023. Tommy attended his beloved Texas Tech University, earning his bachelor’s degree in telecommunications in 2000. He worked in radio for many years, doing both color commentary and statistics for his good friend and mentor Steve Dale. When Tommy and Teresa moved to Plainview in August 2000, he became a solo act, doing play-by-play for smaller schools around Plainview, with Teresa learning statistics so she could tag along. Besides his jobs in the local newspaper and radio stations for several years, Tommy was a volunteer college minister at First Baptist Church in Halfway then at College Heights Baptist Church. He loved pouring into college students and sharing his “Tommy Standard Version” of the Bible and how it applied to life. He considered those students “his kids,” relishing time spent with them in the Young home. He also loved being able to share a spare room with students in need over the years, much as had been done for him by the Bloodworth family years earlier. Now that many are married and have kids of their own, he loved being “Poppy T” to the younger generation. Tommy loved sports of all kinds and never passed up the chance to take in a Texas Tech or Wayland game. He loved the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers, and he and Teresa visited many major league ballparks during their marriage. He was a fountain of sports trivia and loved discussing that and “old school” wrestling with friends and strangers. Above all, Tommy loved Jesus and leaned on Him heavily in the last four years when his health declined significantly. His favorite verse was Joshua 1:8-9: “Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth but meditate on it day and night, being careful to observe all that is in it. Have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” He lived that out and loved with his whole heart. His is now whole and healed and with the Savior he served. Tommy was preceded in death by his parents, Ira Young and Carroll Holmes; his mother-in-law, Barbara Cox; and his grandparents, Wanda and Jackson Farmer. He is survived by his wife, Teresa Young, of Plainview; his beloved puppy kids; his father-in-law, Wes Cox of Lubbock; his sisters, Jana Ostrander and Misty Blair; his brother, Aaron Holmes; sister-in-law Michelle Matson (Todd) of Burleson; nieces and nephews Melissa Stamps, Kristin Scates, Conner Ostrander, Cordell Ostrander, Duncan Ostrander, Michael Rodriguez, Kali Rodriguez, Zachary Rodriguez, Anna Welch, Mikala Holmes, Matthew Holmes, Logan Holmes, Lillie Matson and Levi Matson; great-nieces and nephew Karli, Aspin and Knox; and many extended family and special friends. Honorary pallbearers include David Bloodworth, Troy Burke, Charly McDermett, Carlos Platero, Mark Stelter and Jason Swofford. Family suggest memorials be sent to the J. Wayland Edwards Endowed Scholarship at Wayland Baptist University or to the Texas Tech University School of Mass Communications located in the tab to the left.