Holbrook Travel mourns the loss of Tom Carr, director of development, who passed away on November 11.

The following is his obituary as published by The Gainesville Sun.

CARR, THOMAS, 65

Gainesville - Thomas Carr of Gainesville passed away in his sleep at his home on November 11, 2013.

Tom was born on March 15, 1948 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to the late Marjorie and Archie F. Carr Jr.

He grew up beside Wewa Pond in Micanopy and went to school in Gainesville.

Tommy was in the Signal Corps during the Vietnam war where he was stationed at a radar facility in the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Vietnam. He was wounded while on active duty in Vietnam and received the Purple Heart.

For several years Tom served as field scientist doing surveys of whales and sea turtles in locations as diverse as the Bering Sea, Puerto Rico, Ghana and Angola.

For the past 18 years he has been associated with Holbrook Travel in Gainesville where he was director of development. He was a celebrity within the educational travel community; renowned and admired for his superior abilities as a naturalist and expedition leader as well as his visionary approach to travel. Tom was an innate teacher who was keenly in tune to the poetry of nature as well as its science.

Tom loved many things including scuba diving, fishing, boating and hot musica latina. He had a huge zest for life and a large and loving heart. He was a raconteur of the first magnitude and a daring adventurer who is much beloved and missed by a large extended family of brothers, sister, sisters-in-law, nephews and niece, a cousin and numerous friends and colleagues from all over the world.

A memorial service will take place at 4:00 PM on Friday, November 22, 2013 at the Baughman Center, 982 Museum Road (by Lake Alice) on the UF campus in Gainesville.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Tom's name to Amigos de las Americas http://www.amigoslink.org/or to a charity of your choice.

Arrangements are under the care of MILAM FUNERAL AND CREMATION SERVICES 311 South Main Street Gainesville, FL 32601 (352) 376-5361. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gainesville/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-carr...

Thank you to all those who have reached out to the Carr family and the Holbrook team. Tom was a very special and friendly person with an extraordinary talent for creating educational travel programs. He will be greatly missed.

View photos of Tom's adventures >>