It is with profound sadness and endless love that we announce the passing of the Annello family patriarch, Thomas Michael Annello, affectionately known as Poppie, Big Tom, and the Bald Eagle. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut on August 21, 1943, and passed from this life on April 16, 2025.

Tom was the son of Italian immigrants. He was a precocious and hard-working young boy who shined shoes and took diction classes to better assimilate. He was the 8th-grade valedictorian and saved money to put himself through college at the University of Connecticut on an ROTC scholarship. His immigrant parents instilled in him a sense of hard work, frugality, and the value of education.

One of his favorite jobs was at Daley's Supermarket in Hartford, where he met the love of his life, Carol Darlene Beaulier, when both were just 16 years old. They would become beloved spouses for 54 years. After graduating from UConn in 1965, was commissioned into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and served honorably for 2 years. He parlayed his military service into a long career as a civilian managing retail operations in the Army & Air Force Exchange Services, which included a post in Saigon, Vietnam. He rose to the executive ranks in AAFES, retiring in Lancaster, Texas in 1984. He continued as a real estate investor and entrepreneur in Lancaster and DeSoto for decades after.

Tom was often seen running around Lancaster in his 1965 Mustang "taking care of business," Business being the name of his dog. He was a fitness fanatic and would lead all the ladies to the best aerobic routines of the 1980s and 90s. Those aerobic classes helped neutralize his sweet tooth – he could eat a whole pie before he started a "new program." He was also a movie buff, often renting movies and exclaiming from rooms away, "Did you see the man, Nick Nolte, Carol?"

Devout Catholics, Tom and Carol were members of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Lancaster for over 40 years. Tom was a founding member of that parish's Knights of Columbus chapter and reached the highest rank of 4th degree Knight. To his two sons, he was the ultimate problem solver, an "in case of emergency, break glass" person.

Tom was preceded in death by his wife Carol, his parents Frank and Columbia Annello, and his sister, Olympia Annello. He leaves behind 2 loving sons, Thomas II and his wife, Shanda, Frank and his wife, Kimberly, and 6 grandchildren, Kaylee Jamie (David), Matthew, Thomas III, Sophia, Nicolas, and Leonardo.

A visitation and rosary will be held Monday, April 21, 2025, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at Byrum Funeral Home, 425 N. Dallas Avenue, Lancaster, Texas. A funeral mass will be held on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 10:00 am at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 1537 Rogers Avenue, Lancaster, Texas. A luncheon will follow the mass at the church hall. A burial service will follow on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 2:00 pm at Holy Redeemer Cemetery, 1500 S. Westmoreland Rd., DeSoto, Texas.