Dr. Thomas Eugene Stump (Captain, USN Ret.), 93, passed away on August

3, 2026.

He was a member of Tarheel Central Chapter of MOAA from at least January 2003.

Having attended Franklin & Marshall College for two years on a full academic scholarship

before enrolling at Temple University School of Dentistry. He graduated at the top of his

class in June 1957.

As a participant in the U.S. Navy's Ensign 1195 Program, he graduated from dental school

as a lieutenant in the Navy and was accepted into the Dental Internship Program at the

Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. Upon completion of the program, he was assigned

to a two-year tour of duty aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea.

At the conclusion of his sea duty, Tom was reassigned to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot

Dental Clinic in San Diego, California. He was then deployed to Atsugi, Japan, for three years.

Tom later entered the Navy's Oral Surgery Residency Program, completing his first year in Bethesda, Maryland, and the remaining two years in Great Lakes, Illinois. Upon completing his residency, Tom was deployed to the South China Sea during the Vietnam War, serving two tours of duty aboard the hospital ships USS Repose (AH-16) and USS Sanctuary (AH-17), where he treated combat-related injuries.

After returning to the U.S., Tom was briefly stationed at Naval Operations Base in Norfolk,

VA, before returning to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, VA as Chief of the Dental Department. There, he supervised the training programs for first-year General Dentistry residents and third-year Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residents.

During his tenure in Portsmouth, Tom co-authored the book Management of War Injuries to the Jaws and Related Structures, published by the Naval Medical Research Institute, Department of the Navy.

He also earned a master's degree in education from George Washington University,

graduating first in his class. Tom spent the final four years of his distinguished 22-year Navy career at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland.

He retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain.

Following his military retirement, Tom was recruited by the Bowman Gray School of

Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to establish and serve as the Oral and

Maxillofacial Surgeon for its newly created Department of Dentistry. From 1979 to 1998, he provided both clinical care and instruction to future healthcare professionals. He later

joined the private oral and maxillofacial surgery practice of Dr. James Walter and Dr.

Michael Whitehouse, where he practiced until his retirement in 2002.