Thomas Leon Basile

Thomas Leon Basile, Army Veteran, Bowery Mission Director, "The Disaster Pastor"

Thomas Leon Basile passed away on March 11, 2024 at the age of 60 in Staten Island. He was born March 28, 1963 in McAllen, TX. He moved to Comstock, Michigan at the age of 8 and graduated from Comstock High School in 1981.

His wife, Jill, and daughter, Ashton, parents, Louise and Paul, siblings, James, Randy and Jennie, and their families will miss Tom greatly.

A memorial service will be at Gateway Church, 200 Boscombe Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10309, on Thursday, March 28, 2024 at 7pm. This would have been Tom's 61st birthday. He had a brilliant memory of pivotal dates in his life. What better day to honor him, as we will miss him so!

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Tom's non-for-profit, Building For Jesus Inc. Please send donations to 38 Milbank Rd. Staten Island, NY 10306.

Tom was a proud Army Veteran, 82nd Airborne with 55 jumps. He attended Dallas Theological Seminary and believed strongly that the "least of these" deserved well trained ministers too. This conviction and his earlier victory over addiction led him to substantial rescue mission work at the New York City Rescue Mission as Operations Administrator and the The Bowery Mission as Director. Each man he ministered to for Christ had his utmost trust and unwavering love and grace on the journey to freedom.

Tom's passion surpassed them all! He loved to help people and boasted often about getting to do it for free. Hurricane Sandy opened up the disaster relief chapter of his life. While serving as Outreach Pastor at New Dorp Baptist Church, Tom was instrumental in coordinating various volunteer groups from around the country that arrived on Staten Island. He became known as the Disaster Pastor! Coordinating these groups for years thereafter led to forging ties with churches.

As Executive Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, he continued relief work amidst his executive and administrative duties. Tom brought his hands-on approach into his church leadership roles, and he had unwavering eagerness to serve and help in all things.

Tom was always on the go! He was always on standby to travel (literally) and enjoyed so much the benefits of flying free to special destinations with Jill and Ashton. He especially enjoyed the thrill of seeing his beloved Steelers play in many away games and had almost hit his goal of visiting every NFL stadium.

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