J. Thomas Terry

John Thomas (Tom) Terry, Oklahoma Baptist University vice president for business affairs emeritus and long-time Shawnee community volunteer, died recently in Shawnee.

Terry was a native of Canton, Texas. After graduating from Canton High School, he attended Baylor University, where he earned a bachelor's degree. He later worked toward a Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Texas in Austin. He also served in the U.S Army.

While working in Fort Worth, Texas, with All Church Press, he married Patricia (Pat) Trippett. They had two children, a son, Scott, and a daughter, Susan.

Terry and his family moved to Shawnee in 1967 where he joined the OBU staff as treasurer and comptroller. In 1975, he was promoted to vice president for business affairs and treasurer. In 1982, he served for several months as the university’s interim administrator (president). Then he continued in his role as vice president with the added responsibility of executive assistant to President Bob R. Agee.

Terry retired from full-time service in 1995 but remained at OBU in the part-time role of executive assistant to the president. He left that post in 1998 to become director of the university archives. He retired from OBU in 2011.

OBU honored Terry with the Distinguished Service Award in 1981, the Meritorious Service Award in 1990, and an honorary doctorate in business in 2016.

Terry was a member of Shawnee's University Baptist Church, where he served many years as a Sunday School teacher for two-year-olds, a deacon, choir member, pianist for children’s choirs, substitute organist, and landscaper/gardener.

He served as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board and the Baptist Annuity Board.

In Shawnee, Terry was a member of the Lion’s Club and involved with United Way. He was chairman of the Beautification Committee of the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce, and he received the 2008 Champion Volunteer Award for the statewide organization, Keep Oklahoma Beautiful.

He was active as a master gardener and helped maintain many public flower beds and gardens. He was also a board member and served as chairman of the Pottawatomie County Historical Society.

A park in downtown Shawnee is named in his honor.

Terry was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Pat.

Survivors include his son, Scott Terry, and wife, Christina; daughter, Susan and husband Chris Holley; and two grandsons, David and Daniel Terry.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, May 15, 2026 at University Baptist Church in Shawnee. 

The family has requested that memorial gifts be made to the Pat and Tom Terry Scholarship Fund at Oklahoma Baptist University or to the Pottawatomie County Historical Society endowment fund.

Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Walker Funeral & Cremation Service.