Thomas Weldon Sterling, Jr. (Tom), 89, formerly of Crisfield, MD where he was known as Tom B , of Harpers Ferry, WV, passed away on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 in Kearneysville, WV, of congestive heart failure.

Born March 12, 1926 in Philadelphia, PA, he was the son of the late Thomas Weldon Sterling, Sr. and Eleanor Edwards Sterling. He grew up in Crisfield, joined the navy when he graduated high school, and when WWII was over he came home, went to college and played baseball for the Eastern Shore minor leagues.

He was a graduate of Salisbury State Teachers College and the University of Pennsylvania and was a retired school principal and supervisor in New Market and Talbot County, MD. His first paying position in education was as principal in the one-room schoolhouse on Smith Island.

Tom loved to travel, read, dance, sing, fish and tell jokes. In his younger days he was an athlete. He ran track and field, played basketball, soccer, tennis and golf, but his best game was playing baseball for the Eastern Shore league. He was inducted into the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988.

Tom will be remembered fondly as a good storyteller, creative cook, world traveler, barbershop quartet tenor as well as former Vice President and President of the mid-Atlantic S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A.; and SPCA and Big Brother volunteer.

He is survived by four children, Rivers Sterling of Hendersonville, NC, Debra Sterling of Elijay, GA, Stacie Sterling of Gaithersburg, MD, and Thomas Weldon Sterling, III of Frederick, MD; five grandchildren, Ryan, Joshua, Victoria, Shay and Samantha; and several cousins.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Anne Sterling.

Memorial services will be held in Frederick, MD on Saturday, April 16, 2016. Please contact Stacie at ssterling624@gmail.com 240-481-0043.