Tom Agte was born March 19, 1928, in Plummer, Idaho, to Fern Irene (Campbell) Agte and William Frederick Agte. He passed away suddenly and peacefully at Valley General Hospital in Spokane Valley, Wash., on Feb. 26, 2015.

Following his Plummer High School graduation in 1945, Tom enlisted in the U. S. Navy from the spring of 1946 until the massive naval troop dismissal in the fall of 1946.

Tom married Kathleen Mumau in January of 1947, and attended refrigeration service school at the former Farragut Naval Training station, graduating two years later.

Tom worked as a refrigeration and appliance repairman in Moscow, Idaho, and Pullman, Wash., and in 1953 opened and ran his own business - Tom's Refrigeration and Appliance.

In 1957, Tom moved to Seattle and became employed as a pre-flight electronics technician for Boeing Airplane Company. North American Aviation in Fullerton, Calif., hired him away from Boeing in 1959 until 1970, during which time he worked on navigation and aircraft missile readiness in California, Washington, Maine, Florida, Spain, and Scotland.

Tom returned to Plummer in 1970 and worked as an appliance and television repairman. During his years in Plummer, he was very active in the American Legion, Post 69.

In the early '70s, Tom was employed by the Union Pacific Railroad as a drawbridge operator, running drawbridges at Chatcolet, Idaho, Aberdeen and Pasco, Wash., and Portland, Ore. He retired from the railroad when the line between Plummer and Wallace closed in the late 1980s.

Tom resided in Plummer until early 2014 when he moved to Guardian Angel Homes in Liberty Lake, Wash.

Tom and Kathleen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in January of 1997, followed by her death in the summer of that year. He and Joan Pilgrim married in 2004; they later divorced, but remained good friends.

Tom was preceded in death by his wife, Kathleen, and son Steve (Frieda) Agte. He is survived by his son, Conrad (Jean) Agte of Spokane and daughter Kayleen Agte of New Hampshire; brothers Roger (Lois) Agte of Coeur d'Alene and Plummer, and Dr. Lloyd (Barbara) Agte of the Agte Farm in Plummer. Tom's grandchildren are: Lt. Col. Jeremy (Diana) Agte, PhD of Ohio, Joanna (Terrill) Constantine of Spokane, Lisa (Ezra) Kinlow of Seattle, Jolene (Johannes) Ericsson of California, Vance Agte of Seattle, Dan (Alicia) Agte of Oregon, and Sadira Antunes of Massachusetts. Also surviving are daughter-in-law Frieda Johnson of Coeur d'Alene, and five great-grandchildren.

The service will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at Christian Life Fellowship Church in Plummer, followed by refreshments and visitation in the church hall. The burial ceremony will also take place that day, at 3:30 p.m., at the Plummer Evergreen Cemetery.