Shipley, Thomas Nathan Cause of Death: Obituary of Thomas Nathan Shipley

 Thomas Nathan Shipley, 84, of Rolla, Missouri, died on Sunday, August 24, 2025, at MU University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, on April 1, 1941.

Tom's life was all about love, passion, romance, and creativity. His work, his family, his home, and the mystery of life itself were all at the core. The most significant aspects of his life were his wife, children, daughter-in-law, and the home they built in the woods.

He was passionate in literature, film, and music, among other creative endeavors. Every article he published, every video he produced, and every song he penned and sang were all motivated by passion. And they all had stories to share. Tom was the world's greatest storyteller, and he had a million stories! There were times when it only took patience to get to the end.

Tom's curiosity was unquenchable. He was always ready to see somewhere fresh. He liked to explore novel concepts and approach old information as if it were new.  His motivation was to fish on water he had never fished before. Something he had never tasted? Do it now. His thirst for adventure was undeniable. 

Tom was a politically inclined civil activist. Someone who would speak the truth to those who would listen, THE truth to his family, and THE truth to those in positions of power.

On August 29, 1981, he married Jan E. Shipley (Hoeffken), who has been his loyal wife for forty-four years. He has two daughters from a previous marriage, Deborah and Lisabeth, as well as their children, and two sons, Marc Ryan Shipley and Matthew W. (Ashley) Shipley.