Thomas Nathan Shipley

Thomas Nathan Shipley, 84, of Rolla, MO, born April 1, 1941, in Youngstown, OH, and died Sunday, August 24, 2025, at University Hospital in Columbia, MO.

Tom lived a life centered on love, passion, creativity, romance. Everything revolved around family and home, his art, and the mystery of the nature of life itself. Nothing meant more to him than his wife, sons, daughter-in-law, and the home they built in the woods.

Passion for his art ran deep, whether it was music, writing or video. Every song he wrote and sang, every article he published, and every video he produced were inspired by passion. And every one of them told a story. Tom was unsurpassed at telling a story, and he had a million of them! Sometimes you just had to be patient to get to the end.

Tom had endless curiosity. He was always ready to travel to some place he had never been. He loved to explore a novel concept or treat an ancient wisdom like it was brand new. He was driven to fish on water he had never fished. Something he had never eaten? Bring it on. His thirst for adventure was undeniable.

Politically minded, Tom was a civil activist. One who would speak truth to power, THE truth to his loved ones, and HIS truth to anyone who would listen.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Woodrow W. and Josephine H. (Baker) Shipley; and a sister, Mary Jo Matthews.

He is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Jan E. Shipley (Hoeffken) whom he married on August 29, 1981; two sons, Marc Ryan Shipley and Matthew W. (Ashley) Shipley; and two daughters from a previous marriage, Deborah and Lisabeth, and their children.

Memorials may be made to UNITED24, an initiative to support Ukraine, www.u24.gov.ua, or Ozark Riverways Foundation, www.ozarkriverwaysfoundation.org/get-involved#donate, in support of the Current River.

Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.rollacremation.com/obituaries 

There will be no public funeral service.