Thomas Granville Westfall

CLAYTON - Thomas Granville Westfall, age 76, of Clayton passed away at home on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, after a three-year battle with cancer.

A Celebration of Life and Witness to The Resurrection will be held at 5 PM on Sunday, October 1 at Discovery Church, Clayton NC.

Tom was a jack of all trades which included piano and trumpet player, fisherman, teacher, insurance salesman, mill worker, and carpenter. The Lord called Tom to ministry at age 35 and was ordained in 1985. He was a circuit riding preacher to six small churches in Western Pennsylvania for a year until he received a call to New Hope Presbyterian Church in Willow Spring, NC. He was New Hope’s pastor until 2008 when he retired. In 2009 he began preaching for Discovery Church when the pastor was on vacation. During Covid in 2020 Discovery was without a pastor, and the Session asked Tom to be their Interim. He preached for Discovery until September 4, 2023.

The Lord used Tom’s experiences to enable him to be a storyteller preacher and compassionate pastor and mission worker. Tom and his Christian Ed Director, Vina Hawkins started a LOGOS program for local children. He took a group from New Hope to drywall a house when the Mississippi flooded. Mission projects grew to include building a habitat house in New Orleans after a hurricane, building a house for an elderly couple in Willow Spring, building a boat shed for Camp Albemarle, and building a church in Manteo, NC. Tom also spread God’s word internationally in Mexico and taught at a seminary in Belarus.

Tom was preceded in death by his father, Burke, and mother, Dorothy Westfall. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Pam Westfall; son, Gregory, and wife Jennifer; daughter, Shelly Westfall; granddaughters Madeleine and Charlotte Westfall; sister, Gilda Haddox; brother, Jim Westfall (Terry); and nephews Ben Haddox (Kimber) and Mike (Jen), and Travis, Tyler (Jaimee), and Trey Westfall; and great nephews and nieces Greyson, Isaac, Jesse, Carolyn, and Addalyn.

The family requested that in lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to one of Discovery Church’s missions, Backpack Buddies of River Dell Elementary School. Donations may be made to Discovery Church (memo: Backpack Buddies) and sent to Discovery Church, 5586 Covered Bridge Rd, Clayton, NC 27527.