Thomas Stroup Obituary

Tom Stroup was born in Artesia, New Mexico on November 28, 1946, into the family of a cotton and alfalfa farmer. Tom worked the farm with his Dad and learned to work the land and all the skills that came with that occupation including hard work, long days, welding, mechanics, innovation and the thousands of other requirements of being an American farmer.
Tom graduated from Artesia High School, and like their mascot, the Bulldog, Tom took on life's challenges with an iron grip and determination. After High School, Tom spent 2 years in the U.S. Army on Active Duty and followed with 6 years in the Army Reserve.
In these formative years of working the soil and serving his country in the military, Tom formed a fierce Patriotism and Love of Country.
After Tom's family sold the farm, Tom moved to Santa Fe, NM and forged a new career in selling Real Estate. His warm smile, open friendly personality, honesty and tireless work ethic served him well in this profession and he prospered. Seeking new opportunity, he partnered with a friend and formed a new company, Builders Carpets, based in Albuquerque. The same qualities that served him so well in Real Estate also resulted in great success in the construction flooring business, and his company was providing flooring to most of the major builders in the Albuquerque area for several years.
In the early 1990's he decided to slow down a bit and spend more time enjoying the other passions of his life. He moved to Elephant Butte and built a beautiful home overlooking the lake and Fra Cristobal Mountains. He took to his life loves of fishing, hunting, metal and wood art, Jeeping and Rock Crawling.
In 2002, Tom was asked to join the Elephant Butte Leaseholders Association Board of Directors. He quickly became an integral part of the Team and took over the task of working with the Bureau of Reclamation and NM State Parks Division to assemble the appropriate maps and surveys of the Lease Lots that were going to be privatized through a Bill in the U.S. Congress sponsored by Representative Joe Skeen. Tom took on the Herculean task of assembling all this information, and got it compiled into the documents that were used to make the Land Sale happen.
In 2015 Tom was elected to the Sierra Electric Cooperative (SEC) Board of Trustees. He served until shortly before his death in 2022. During that time, Tom served as Vice President of the Board from 2018 to 2022. Tom was appointed as Committee Chair on a special committee to review and determine the technical and financial feasibility of the COOP having a 1-megawatt solar generating system constructed and operated for the Membership of SEC. As was his custom, Tom approached the project in his Bulldog manner and worked tenaciously to determine if the Solar Generating System would meet the Fiduciary requirements for the Membership of SEC. His research determined that it was not a good investment for SEC and the Board rejected the project as a result of his research.
Tom was well liked and had a warm and engaging smile, but he professionally stood his ground and at times his stubborn German roots were clearly evident if he believed that an issue was not true or valid.
Tom is survived by his wife, Julianne Stroup; his stepdaughter, Lindsay Norman, and her husband, Chief Petty Officer Erik Norman; grandson, Leif Norman; stepson, Arthur Miller; sister-in-Law, Joyce Sanchez, and her husband, Jim Bentley, and their 2 sons; brother-in-law, Jeff Sanchez, and wife, Kathy; nephew, Steve Glover; and his brother, Mark Stroup.
Services will be held on Saturday, September 17, 2022, at 3:00 P.M. at the Elephant Butte Community Center with Pastor Joe Byers officiating. Interment will take place on Monday, September 19, 2022, at 10:00 A.M. at Vista Memory Gardens Cemetery with Military Honors. Send flowers to the service of Thomas Paul "Tom" Stroup