Thomas C. “Tom” Markley was born on July 11th, 1934 in an old farm house with no electricity or running water, on a farm a mile north and two and three quarters east of Bennington, Kansas. He died Tuesday, August 1, 2023. He lived at Presbyterian Manor, on the north side of East Crawford Street in Salina, Kansas where his apartment overlooked Markley Road, named after his great grand uncle, one of Salina’s earliest pioneers, on the south side of Crawford Street.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Claude D. Markley, and Dorothy V. (Moody) Markley; sister, Claudine Markley; and brother, Richard “Dick” Markley. He is survived by his wife, Wanda R. Markley, of the home; their son, Chuck D. Markley and wife, Kelley A. (Cormier) Markley of Prescott Valley, Arizona; brother, Donald Dean Markley; and sister, Marilyn Ann Brown and husband, Clinton of Hutchinson, Kansas.

Tom grew up in, and on a farm southeast of, Bennington, where he learned to hunt and fish on the land and in the adjoining Solomon River. From the age of 12, he participated in the farming operations and loved driving the trucks, tractors, and the combine. He attended the Bennington schools for 12 years and was named president of his senior class.

In his junior year, a new girl came to school at Bennington High School. From the first day she caught his eye and after some encouragement by her cousin, Tom asked her if he could drive her home to Wells after a ball game. The rest is history. Tom and Wanda Kuhlmann dated nearly four years, until she graduated high school. Then on June 6, 1954, they were married in the Wells, Kansas, Methodist Church, which now stands renovated and preserved on the Central Kansas Flywheels Yesteryear Museum grounds at the north edge of Salina. The happy couple spent 69 blissful years together. They were bless

ed with one wonderful son, Charles (Chuck) Markley, now living in Prescott Valley, Arizona with his wife, Kelley.

After a year, Tom and Wanda left the farm and Tom took his first job in Salina, Kansas. In 1957, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and attended basic training at Lackland AFB outside San Antonio, Texas. After basic, he was transferred to Amarillo AFB near Amarillo, Texas for six months, training to be a maintenance crew chief on the Air Force’s first six engine jet engine bomber, the B-47. After graduating that school number 1 in his class, he was awarded the opportunity to choose his next base of assignment and selected Forbes AFB south of Topeka, Kansas. At Forbes, Tom was given an exam on the operation and maintenance of the B-47 to determine eligibility for promotion and scored the highest of anyone to that date at that base. He completed his four year enlistment in early 1961.

Upon honorable discharge from the Air Force, Tom and Wanda moved to Salina where he started his life career in real estate that was to span 41 years. During those years Tom worked as a salesman for the Siler and Johnson Agencies for a combined 10 years after which he formed his own brokerage business with the name of Tom Markley, Realtor. In 1980, he closed the brokerage business and started a second real estate career as a full-time independent fee appraiser under the name of Tom Markley Appraisals. He then completed all the requirements for a professional designation from the Appraisal Institute as a SRA, or Senior Residential Appraiser. Tom worked for approximately 27 years at the endeavor doing loan appraisals for nearly every financial institution in Salina and some surrounding communities.

During the course of his career, Tom held all the offices in and served as president of, both the Salina Board of Realtors and the Salina Multiple Listing Service. He was President of the Breakfast Optimist Club and oversaw the construction by the Optimist Club and a Salina car club, of the Salina Raceways Drag Strip on the abandoned runway on what is now Markley Road, for which the club won first prize at the Optimist National Convention for public service projects by moving young people from racing on public streets to a more safe environment under controlled conditions.

Upon partial retirement in 2000, Tom and Wanda spent four months a year for nearly five years on the road touring all 50 states, and several Canadian provinces, several many times, and traveling to England and the town from which Tom’s ancestors immigrated to America. They also fulfilled a lifelong desire by way of a one month tour of Fiji, Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti.

Although they never wearied of travel, they then settled into simply enjoying the home they had built in 1991 and a life of leisure until moving to the Manor in September, 2021.

For many years Tom had told people that he felt he was an extremely lucky man in that he had enjoyed good health all his life, had a wonderful wife, and the privilege of living in the greatest country in the world during the best years it ever had or ever would have to offer.

Both Tom and Wanda’s ashes will eventually be combined and buried in the Bennington, Kansas cemetery.

Donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in care of the funeral home.