Over the summer, the Blackburn campus community was shocked to learn about the death of student Thomas Barksdale. Barksdale was a junior history major and physical plant worker who was always very good-natured and liked by everyone.
Barksdale was from Gillespie and came to Blackburn in 2014. His quiet and easy-going disposition was comfortable for those who knew him and a welcome change of pace for those who didn’t. Barksdale was a member of grounds crew, and by all accounts, he loved his job. Former Physical Plant supervisor Jack Bettis said, “Tom was a great asset to the grounds department, and more so, a great friend and coworker to all who had contact with him. To this day, when I drive past campus, I catch myself looking for him on a mower. I probably always will.” This was something most friends and colleagues mentioned. Thomas loved the campus, and he loved making it look presentable. “He was like an artist on that lawn mower,” said history professor and Barksdale’s advisor Gary Long, “he could make it turn around anything, very sharply. He would step into other people’s shifts just to cut the grass. He seemed to always be working on campus….”
Senior communications major Deja Bell said, “He loved this place from the moment he got here… I remember he worked at Snack Bar in his first semester here, but he switched to grounds crew after working there over a break. He fell in love with it. You could always see him driving around mowing, usually with a f—in’ huge vape cloud behind him,” she laughed, “That was like his place, he loved to mow. If he wasn’t in class, he was working or playing pool.” She concluded, “He had a massive love for this place, even when times were hard for him.” Barksdale’s mother, Evelyn Timpe Barksdale, agreed and said, “Thomas said his friends there were like family to him. The best times he ever had were there.”
Barksdale’s family didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford to give Thomas a proper funeral and burial by themselves. The family started a Go-Fund-Me page in order to buy Barksdale a headstone and a proper funeral. Many Blackburn students, staff and faculty donated, or shared the link to the page. Barksdale’s mother said, “… It meant a lot to us that so many people cared and loved him,” she continued, “Thank you for the love and support for my son Thomas. I’m so glad he touched so many people’s lives. He always wanted to make a difference in the world and make it better. He wanted to be loved and give love and just wanted to be happy. Thank you all very much.”
“I’ll always love him,” said Bell. “He was great, laid back, really funny. He would always cheer you up, even if you didn’t want to be. He was just a really genuinely good person.”
