Dr. Thomas Earl Needham

Dr. Thomas E. Needham, age 88 of Amarillo, died November 22, 2025 in Amarillo at his home.

Rosary will be said at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at Schooler Funeral Home, Brentwood Chapel, 4100 South Georgia, followed by a Vigil Service at 6:30 PM.

The funeral mass will be at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 4100 South Coulter.  Interment will follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery with military honors rendered by The Volleys for Veterans.

The mass will be livestreamed from the St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, https://amarillo.church

Dr. Thomas Needham was born on June 20, 1937 to his parents Alfred Earl and Eleanor Pearl Leeman Needham. He attended Pampa High School before enlisting in the US Army, where he proudly served from 1957 until 1960.

On May 8, 1965, he married the love of his life, Mary Lee Brune at St. James Church in St. Paul, Iowa, and that was the start of a grand adventure that would last the next 48 years, until Mary’s death in 2013.

In 1972, he graduated from the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. Dr. Needham would practice until 2014 when he retired.

An avid pilot, Dr. Needham made his first solo flight in 1978, selling his last plane in 2018.

He was preceded in death by his parents; an infant son, Jason Edward Needham; his wife, Mary L. Neeham; and two brothers, John Patrick and James David Needham.

Dr. Needham is survived by his daughter, Suzanne Needham; his sons, Thomas E. Needham Jr and his wife Carolyn and Timothy Needham and his wife Carrie; his sister, Mary Ellen Solliday and her husband Joel of Lewiston, Idaho; his brothers, Robert Needham of San Antonio, Richard Needham and his wife Barbara of Plano, William Needham and his wife Pat of Amarillo, Daniel Needham and his wife Carol of Huntington Beach, CA and David Needham of Waco, Texas; his five grandchildren, Tristyn, Dena, Mary-Claire, Gretchen, Robby and Kyleigh; four great-grandchildren, Brently, Straton, Warren, and Thomas; one great-grandchild on the way; and his beloved companion, Schnapps.

The family suggest memorials be made to The Wounded Warrior Project or the Steven Siller Tunnels to Towers Foundation.  Links for both charities  can be found listed below.