DOVER - Thomas P. Dickey, Colonel U.S.A.F. (retired) of Dover, Del., passed away on June 20, 2016, after a short illness. Thomas was born in Hartstown, Pa., in 1919 and attended a one room lementary school and a 3 room high school. In Sept. 1939, the day after the Germans marched into Poland, Thomas enlisted in the Army and was accepted into Flight School where he achieved his dream of flying airplanes. During the W.W. II., he dropped paratroopers in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. After the war and until his retirement at Dover AFB in 1970, he served in a variety of assignments. Two most notable were as Chief of War Plans, Strategic Air Command at Offutt AFB in Nebraska at the height of the cold war and then as Deputy Commander of Material for the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, Kadena AFB, Okinawa, during the Viet Nam war. After retirement, he was an active member for many years of both the Camden-Wyoming Lions Club and the Camden VFW Post 3238. He was also a volunteer with the Veterans office in Dover. He campaigned for and was instrumental in the establishment of the first Veterans Cemetery in Delaware. He was predeceased by his wife of 63 years, Gertrude, his sister, Irene Drake of Jamestown, PA and his parents, Claude Bowman and Letitia Irene Dickey of Jamestown, PA. He is survived by his children, Thomas P. Dickey Jr. of Bow, N.H., Eva M. Dickey of Dover, Del. and Christopher B. Dickey of Fayetteville N.C.; three grandchildren, Catherine Mary, Thomas Patton III and Christopher Edwin Dickey also of Fayetteville, N.C.; as well as niece, Catherine Byerly & family of Shannon, Pa.; nephew, Alan Drake & family of Bella Vista, Ark.; and niece Carol Henegan & family of Jamestown, Pa. Funeral services will be held 12 noon, Saturday, July 2, 2016 at Torbert Funeral Chapel, 61 S. Bradford Street, Dover, DE 19904, Friends may call one hour prior. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Col. Dickey's memory to the Dover, DE Salvation Army, 611 Forest Street, PO Box 123, Dover, DE 19903 or the USO 500 Purple Heart Way, Dover AFB, DE 19902. Letters of condolences may be sent and guest book signed at www.torbertfuneral.com.