Thomas Arnold Glew

Thomas Arnold Glew, 69, of Newport, North Carolina, passed away on Sunday, February 9, 2025, at Lower Cape Fear Life Care in Wilmington after fighting a long and courageous battle with liver cancer.

A memorial service to honor Tom’s life will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, February 22nd at Munden Funeral Home, officiated by Rev. Robby Stewart. Interment will follow at Gethsemane Memorial Park. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service. For those unable to attend, the service can be viewed through his obituary page on Munden Funeral Home’s website. The service will remain on the Funeral Home website for 90 days.

Tom, born in Bangor, Maine was the beloved son of the late Ralph and Iris Glew. He was raised in Saugus, MA and after graduating from high school in 1974 attended Cape Fear Technical College in Wilmington, NC. Returning to the Boston area he worked various jobs in search of that perfect career.

Then in 1981 Tom was offered an opportunity to return to North Carolina for employment at MCAS Cherry Point. He and his bride Lori packed their bags, left their families and relocated to Carteret County, where they believed they found paradise on the crystal coast and quickly acclimated to the southern way of life.

As it turned out Tom did find that perfect career at Cherry Point and served 38 years of distinguished Civil Service employment. An aircraft electrician by trade he worked on and was familiar with most aircraft coming into the hangars of the Marine Corps Air Station, but always spoke about his most favorite to work on and watch fly was the search and rescue helicopter “Pedro”. Eventually Tom’s career took him off the flight line and into the business office where he worked extensively supporting the Osprey program. Tom was passionate about his work and enjoyed all the challenges and new experiences, but the best part of his career was all the people he met and the many friendships that were established throughout the years.

Tom was known for his grand personality, unique sense humor and quick wit. There was never a dull moment around Tom, he brought so much laughter and entertainment to both work and social gatherings. His carefree, positive attitude will be greatly missed.

A man with many talents Tom especially found joy in his hobbies. He was a skilled, creative craftsman who had a remarkable ability to repair most anything and would spend many hours in his garage working on such projects. Tom enjoyed cooking and perfected multiple recipes but none surpassed his signature dishes of Boston baked beans, Newport barbeque ribs and the family’s favorite breakfast of SOS biscuit and gravy. However, not one of those creative dishes compared to the pleasure he received in preparing the Thanksgiving turkey with his mother-in-law Betty.

Any activity that involved being in or on the water was one of Tom’s most deepest passions. As a young boy he was introduced to boating and fishing at the family camp on Kennebunk Pond in Maine; those were fond memories he cherished especially the adventurous canoe trip along the Saco River. After settling on the coast of North Carolina Tom was delighted with the extended season of water fun activities he could experience, spending year after year on the shores of Bogue Sound, Shackleford Banks and ventures to Cape Lookout. He was proud to raise a daughter who shared in his love for fishing and often caught more than he did!

Those remaining to cherish his memory are his soulmate and devoted wife of 45 years, Lori Glew; daughter, Julia Glew-Crouch (Daniel) of Carolina Beach, NC; sisters, Allison Hines (Bob) of Trent Woods, NC and Diane Morris (Dave) of Saugus, MA; mother-in-law, Elizabeth Quinlan of Saugus, MA; siblings-in-law, Fred Quinlan of Ossipee, NH, Karen Bach (Paul) of Peabody, MA; Kelly Caponigro (Joe) of Swampscott, MA and Jim Quinlan (Ann) of Boxford, MA; life-long childhood friend, Jim Kettinger of Mt. Pleasant, SC; many nieces and nephews of the Glew-Quinlan Families and grand-puppies, Nattie and Minnie.

In addition to his parents Tom was preceded in death by his father-in-law Frederick Quinlan, niece Katie Hines and sister-in-law Ann Quinlan.

As an expression of sympathy, memorial contributions may be made to UNC Chapel Hill Liver Cancer Research Fund at the following link: give.unc.edu/tribute/glew

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net.

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.