Thomas Gaddis Hegwood, Jr., of Pascagoula, known as Tommy, died Thursday, January 4, 2018, at the age of ninety-one. He had been a resident of Pascagoula for eighty-five years. Tommy was the widower of Mamie Jean Anderson Hegwood and the only child of Thomas Gaddis Hegwood, Sr., and Katherine Beall Hegwood. Tommy graduated from Pascagoula High School in 1945 and went immediately into the U. S. Army in the final months of World War Two. He began training for an amphibious invasion of Japan, but the war ended abruptly following Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and he was sent to Yokohama with the Army of Occupation. Tommy had an innate mechanical ability, could figure out how anything worked, and quickly rose to became a sergeant in charge of the motor pool for that district of Japan. Upon returning stateside, Tommy remained in the Army Reserves throughout the Korean War. He worked at Ingalls and, as he would later say, "followed construction" at various worksites in Mississippi and Louisiana. It was during this time that he met Jean, his soon-to-be wife, who had come to Pascagoula from Columbia during the booming war years and was working at the post office. They married on December 17, 1949, a marriage that would last until Jean's death on July 18, 2015. Tommy and Jean loved to socialize with friends and would have wonderful times together all along the Mississippi Gulf Coast during its heyday in the Fifties and Sixties. Tommy and Jean soon had a son, Martin, and a daughter, Elizabeth, within two years of each other, and Tommy decided he should stay close to home in Pascagoula and quit moving from jobsite to jobsite. He also wanted to be his own boss, so he thought of ways to open his own business. He decided that Pascagoula was large enough to support a second florist, so, with absolutely no knowledge of the floral business, he opened Hegwood's Flowers in 1957. He would prove to be a hard worker and a fast learner – he had to be, since a third child, Katherine, would come in 1959 -- and he would go on to become a two-time president of the Mississippi Florists and Nurserymans' Association. Tommy grew up boating, hunting, and fishing on the lakes, bayous, and marshes of the Pascagoula River delta. He was also an expert small boat handler and sailor who knew every inch of the Mississippi Sound. He loved boats and had more fun fixing up old boats than he did actually taking them out on the water. The lure of the water proved too great for him to resist, and in his early sixties he leased out his florist, bought a shrimp boat, and began shrimping along the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. He would operate his boat, the Frances Ann, until he was in his seventies. He was an organizer and president of Mississippi Professional Fishermen, a short-lived group that lobbied for issues affecting the commercial fishing industry. Tommy was a life-long Baptist, a man of strong faith who served as deacon in the First Baptist Church of Pascagoula. He had a beautiful tenor voice, loved to sing, and was a member of the choir at First Baptist. In later years, he began attending Parkway Baptist Church. Tommy was a kind, gentle, and cheerful man who made friends quickly. It can truly be said of Tommy Hegwood that he was always a friend in time of need. Tommy is survived by a son, Martin (Linda) Hegwood of Canton, and two daughters, Elizabeth Ann "Liz" Smith of Oxford and Katherine "Kat" (Neal) Graham of Germantown, TN. He leaves five grandchildren: Eliza (Andrew) Ueltschey of Jackson, William Maurice "Reece" Smith, IV of Oxford, William Thomas Hegwood of Canton, Mary Katherine (Charles) Jones of Oxford, and Albert "Al" Graham of Germantown. He also leaves two great-grandchildren: Thomas Farrell Ueltschey and Elsie Louise Ueltschey, both of Jackson. Funeral Service will be Saturday, Jan 6, 2018, 10:00 am, at O'Bryant-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula. Friends may visit one hour prior to the service. Interment will be at Machpelah Cemetery in Pascagoula. You can send condolences to his family at www.obryantokeefe.com