Lt. Commander Thomas Leonard Hieronymus

Tom was born August 3, 1911 in a sod house on the family farm northwest of Buffalo, Harper County, Oklahoma to James Leonard and Beulah (Murdock) Hieronymus.  He graduated from high school in Ashland, Kansas.  He continued his education at the University of Oklahoma, where he obtained a law degree in 1933, and was admitted to the bar in 1934.  He was elected County Attorney in Harper County and served two terms from 1934 until 1939.  He later served as Assistant U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma from 1939 until 1941.  Tom joined the US Navy in 1941 and attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander, leaving active service in 1945. After leaving the service he once again served as Assistant U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma in 1946.  He also survived the tornado that hit Woodward on April 9, 1947.  Tom married Mary Maxine Cullen in Woodward in April of 1947, making their home in Woodward, Oklahoma.  Tom practiced law in Woodward County for over 60 years, except for two years which he spent in Oklahoma City when Governor Johnston Murray appointed him to chair the State Industrial Commission from 1951-1957.  He served as a member of the State Industrial Commission from 1974 to 1979m and Chairman from 1977-1979.  He also served on the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission, was a member of the Oklahoma and American Bar Associtaion, the American Judicature Society, the International Society of Barristers.  He served as president of the Oklahoma Bar Association in 1975.  He also served on the board of directors of the Oklahoma Foundation for Humanities from 1992 to 1993.  In 1994 he was recognized by the Oklahoma Bar Association for sixty years of service.  He also was a member and past President of the Woodward Chamber of Commerce.  He also served as the Woodward School Board Attorney for many years.  He also had served as a member and past President of the Woodward Kiwanis.  He was the father of three daughters: Kathy, Pat and Dana.

Newspaper Articles on Tom Hieronymus

Hieronymus-Miller Ceremony Read

Rev. Otto Bergner read nuptial vows for Mrs. Maxine Cullen Miller and Tom L. Hieronymus in the First Presbyterian church in Woodward on April 26.  The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Cullen, Woodward, and the bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Hieronymus, Buffalo.  Mrs. Dwight Ferguson played the program of wedding musica and Mrs. B. H. Parsons was the soloist.  The bride's sister, Miss Veta Jo Cullen was maid of honor and W. L. Davis, Gage, was the best man.  Mark Cullen, Guymon, brother of the bride, was usher.  The bride's dress was of champagne crepe with which she more matching mitts and a hat of illusion.  She carried an arm bouquet of Talisman roses.  A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Mrs. Hieronymus has taught in the Mutual and Woodward highschools and for 13 months served overseas with the American Red Cross.  Mr. Hieronymus, a graduate of the OU school of law, has served as attorney for Harper county and as assistant United States attorney for the western district of Oklahoma.  He was overseas three years in the European and Pacific theaters as a navy officer.  He now is a member of the law firm of Hieronymus and Wright in Woodward
Source:  The Oklahoman May 11, 1947 Page 67

State Post Due For Hieronymus

Industrial Board Chairmanship is Seen


Tom Hieronymus, Woodward attorney, is slated for appointment as chairman of the state industrial commission.  Hieronymus conferred with Gov. Murray Wednesday, and while neither the attorney nor the governor would confirm it, it was indicated the governor offered the appointment and Hieronymus agreed to accept it.  The appointment likely will be made within the next few days.  Gov. Murray removed Claude Hendon, Shawnee; from the position about 10 days ago after he refused to resign.  It is known the governor had Hieronymus under consideration for some time.  The name of Sandy H. Singleton, Oklahoma City attorney and chairman of the state highway commission under the Phillips administration, also had been mentioned along with others.  It is understood Singleton was sounded out about taking the position.  Hieronymus is a former assistant U.S. district attorney here.  He resigned the position in 1948 to run for congress on the Democratic ticket in the eighth congressional district.
Hieronymus was born August 3, 1911 near Buffalo in Harper county.  He was graduated from the University of Oklahoma law school in 1933.  He served two terms as Harper county attorney, was appointed assitant U.S. district attorny of the western district in 1934 and resigned in 1941 to enter service in World War II.  He returned to the position after the war but resigned to make the race for congress and after his defeat in the general election by Ross Rizley, he began practice lf law at Woodward.  Murray's appointment of Hieronymus is expected to end tension on the industrial commission.  There were differences between the other four commissions and Hendon over administration and allowance for attorney's fees that led to the rquest for Hendon's resignation and his later removal.  Forrest McIntire, one of the commissioners, is not expected to remain on the commission many months.  McIntire, who was secretary to Roy J. Turner, former governonr. has indicated he would like other type of work.  He had been slated for a position on the tax commission when Murray first took office, but the governor changed his mind about the selection and name Lawton Leininger to the position.  McIntire was later appointed on the industrial commission.  He is not an attorney.
Source:  The Oklahoman Sep 13, 1951 Page 25

Woodward Man Helped Plan Invasion
By Michael McNutt (Enid Bureau-Daily Oklahoman June 6, 1994 Page 1,2


Woodward--Fifty years ago, Tom Hieronymus was out at sea wondering whether months of planning would be all washed p.  Heronymus had seen it happen once before.  The northwest Oklahoma native was a key planner in the amphibious assault on Utah Beach that occurred 50 years ago today.  It was his job to position the landing craft across the English Channel so the smaller vessels could make it to the beach.  His landing craft forces and the troops who would fill them left England in early June for Normandy, only to be called back because of bad weather.  Less than a week later, they were back at sea headed toward Normandy.  "When they talk about D-Day, I don't know what..D-Day was," Hieronymus said.  "D-Day, I suppose, was when we were supposed to go in the first time.  We didn't think that we could get through that weather, so we turned around and came back.  We stayed there two or three days in getting reoranized and reshaped to take out again.  But the 6th was the day we hit."  Conditions early that morning were poor also, he said.  "Man, that weather was bad," said Heronymus, who was on a communications ship giving directions to the landing boat crews.  "We had pretty good communications, but what hurt us with the landing was the weather.  It was tough--that wind blowing and those wave."  "I always heard we didn't have near the trouble they had at Omaha Beach, and I felt like that was because we missed the beach by about a half a mile."  Turbulent seas caused the landing craft to land farther away from the big guns at Utah Beach, he said.  That helped some, but not very much, he said.  Before D-Day would be deemed a success, Hieronymus was assigned to plan an amphibious operation in southern France.  As the allied pressed inward, there was less need for coastal invasions and Hiemonymus was sent to the Pacific Theater, where he planned the invasion of Okinawa.  He was working on plans to invade Japan when word was flashed to his team that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima.  The bombing led to Japan's surrender.  "They were all tough," he said of the amphibious operations.  "That landing is slaughter.  But I'll say this: Our big battleships and our cruisers alnd all of the Navy equipment softened them (the enemy) up considerably.  "Where we had the advantage of everyone, I always thought, was we had more personnel, more equipment, more everything than anyone else did." Hieronymus hasn't thought much about D-Day over the past half-century.  He has not watched any of the recent TV specials.  "I've never thought about it since then unless somebody asked me about it.  It's one thing I was in and I was glad it was over," he said.  Asked what he would be doing today, he said he would go to work as usual.  At 82, Hieronymus keeps busy with his Woodward law practice.  He rises each morning at 4, rides an exercis bike for 25 minutes, reads the newspaper, and is at his office by 7.  Most weeks, he drives to Oklahoma City for court hearings and appearances.  Hieronymus, who started practicing law in Buffalo in the 1930s, was with the US attorney's office in Oklahoma City when he joing the Navy in 1941.  He started as a lieutenant in Naval intelligence and has reached the rank of lieutenant commander whenhe left active service in 1945.  After the war, he returned as an assistant U.S. attorney in Oklahoma City for two years, then went to Woodward to make an unsuccessful run for Congress.  He set up a law practice in Woodward in the early 1050s and has been there ever since.  Hieronymus kept few souvenirs of his work on Operation Overlord.  He had a foam rubber model of Utah Beach that he used in planning the assault, but it was destroyed in a house fire.  Hieronymus said he had no indications his naval career would lead to helping the Allies plan the invasion of Normandy.  He started out rather routinely, inspecting passengers and freight on incoming ships at Port Arthur Texas.  In 1943, he was assigned to North Africa and was involved in planning the amphibious assault on Sicily, the first of several operations he would help engineer.  After a successful assault on Sicily, Hieronymus was assigned to Plymouth, England to start planning the amphibious assault on Utah Beach.  He said Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who had talked of an invasion of Western Europe since 1942, had a thorough plan developed.  "That was a catalog," Hieronymus said.  "The book that Eisenhower and his staff had prepared had everything in detail. You went by the book, I'll tell you."  The main assignment for Hieronymus was to develop a course for ships carrying landing craft across the English Channel to Utah Beach.  "We had to cross the English Channel, and the channel was rough," he said.  "Almost every day, they would go out and come back," Hieronymus said.  "We just practiced like you would for a football game."  Although the D-Day operation had the largest amphibious invasion force, the landings on Pacific Ocean islands were tricky because there was little element of surprise, Hieronymus said.  "They talk about D-Day and all of that.  But when you get down to the toughness the one on the other side (Pacific theater) was the toughest." he said.

Tom Hieronymus' Obituary



TOM HIERONYMUS 83 year old prominent, longtim Woodward attorney, died in a two vehicle accident Wednesday near Oakwood.  Funeral services will be held at 2:00p.m. Friday, October 21, 1994 in the First Christian Church with Dr. Marion Condiff officiating.  Burial will be in the Elmwood cemetery under the direction of Billings Funeral home, Woodward.  Thomas Leonard "Tom" Hieronymus was born August 3, 1911 in a sod house on the family farm northwest of Buffalo in Harper County.  He was the son of James Leonard and Beulah (Murdock) Hieronymus.  He was reared on the farm, graduated from high school in Ashland, KS.  He attended the University of Oklahoma, where he obtained his Law Degree in 1933, was admitted to the Bar in 1934.  He was elected County Attorney in Haper County and served two terms from 1934 until 1939.  He served as Assistant U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma from 1939 to 1941 and also in 1946.  Tom joined the Navy in 1941, attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander, leaving active service in 1945.  In April of 1947 he married to Mary Maxine Cullen in Woodward.  They made their home in Woodward.  His wife preceded him in death on March 11, 1977.  Tom has practiced law in Woodward County for over sixty years, except for two years, which he spent in Oklahoma City when Governor Johnston Murray appointed him to chair the State Industrial Commission.  He was a member of the Woodward First Presbyterian Church.    He had served as Chairman of the State Industrial Commission from 1951 until 1953; was a member of the State Industrial Commission from 1974-1979 and Chairman from 1977-1979; served on the Oklahoma Judicial Nominating Commission; was a member of the Oklahoma and American Bar Association; the American Judicature Society; the International Societyof Barristers; served as Presidnet othe Oklahoma Bar Foundation in 1975; was a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates; a Fellow of American College of Trial lawyers and served on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Foundation for Humanities from 1992 to 1993.  In 1994, Tom was recognized by the Oklahoma Bar Association for sixty years of service.  Tom was a past President and member of the Woodward Chamber of Commerce.  He was the Woodward School Board attorney for many years; was a former hospital board member and past chairman; was a member and past President of the Woodward Kiwanis.  He was also a generous sponsor of school and community activities.  Survivors include three daughters, Kathy Dick and husband, Jerry, Pat Meyer, all of Woodward and Dana Hieronymus, Edmond; three sisters, Alene Allen, Columbia, Mo., Nadine George, Ashland, KS., True Adams, Buffalo; four grandchildren, Jennifer and Bryan Dick, Adam and Megan Meyer.  He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother.  Memorials may be given to the Oklahoma Bar Foundation; Tom Hieronymus Memorial Scholarship with the Billings Funeral Home, Box 245, Woodward, Ok, 73802 active as custodian.
Source:  Daily Oklahoman October 21, 1994 Page 127.   

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