Michael Thomas "Tom" Tanna

Michael Thomas "Tom" Tanna, 62, of Missoula, passed away Saturday, January 11, 2014, at Community Hospital in Missoula following a brief illness.
Tom, as he was known, was born on March 13, 1951, in Denver, Colorado, to Henry and Edith (Orro) Tanna, recent immigrants from Estonia. The family moved to Helena, Montana in 1955. There Tom progressed through the school system, graduating from Helena High School in 1969. He attended Carroll College and the University of Montana, earning his degree from there in 1974.
Tom remained in Missoula and began his more than 35 year career with Mountain Bell in 1975 in the Business Office before moving to Operator Services. It was there that he first met his future wife, Cindy Hockenberry. Tom soon moved to the plant/technical side of the business where he held various craft positions until his retirement in 2010. He continued working as an independent contractor to Century Link and eventually joined Power Engineers, working for them until his passing.
Tom and Cindy married in 1987 In Missoula. They had two beautiful children, Amy and Matthew, and raised them through the Missoula school system. As a family, they enjoyed the Montana outdoors which included many special memories at Lake Mary Ronan.
Tom was especially fond of the outdoors and enjoyed fishing, hunting and sport shooting. His penchant for mechanical gadgets led to a sizeable array of watches and clocks.
He was preceded in death by his father, Henry Tanna in 1989.
Survivors include his wife, Cindy Hockenberry ; daughter, Amy Tanna of Fairbanks, Alaska; son, Matthew Tanna of Missoula; mother, Edith Tanna of Helena; and brother Peter and sister-in-law Debbie (Schmitz) Tanna of Littleton, Colorado.
A memorial service will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2014 at 1:00 P.M. at the Sunset Memorial Funeral Home in Missoula. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Humane Society of Western Montana.

Read Michael Tanna's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.