Thomas Halton Walman

Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford Thomas Halton Walman was born in McComb, MS on December 9th, 1943. The Lord welcomed him Home April 4th, 2026. The family will receive friends on Monday, April 13, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. at Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford. A memorial service honoring his life will be held immediately following the visitation, commencing at 4:00 p.m. in the Coleman Funeral Home Chapel. In addition to the services in Oxford, the family will receive friends in Tommy’s hometown of McComb, MS, on Monday, April 20, 2026, from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at JJ White Presbyterian Church, with a memorial service commencing immediately following the visitation at 11:00 a.m in the church sanctuary. He is survived by his beloved wife,Jane Magruder Walman, and their cherished daughter Katherine Alexis Cordell,along with his grandsons, the pride of old age: Bradley Alan Cordell and David Thomas Cordell. He ls survived by cousins who seemed more like brothers: Ken Nelson, Rick Dickerson, and Dallas Dickerson, and the extended Dickerson Clan of grandchildren and great grandchildren, as well as his brother in law, Dan (Ginger) Magruder and sister in law Kate (David) Lambeth and their families. He is preceded in death by his son, Leslie Alan Walman, and also by his mother, Dorothy Dickerson Jones, his grandmother, Ella Jane Johnston Dickerson and grandfather Thomas Purvis Dickerson. Tommy graduated McComb High School in 1962, and entered Ole Miss that fall finding a whole new set of brothers in Sigma Nu Fraternity. His undergraduate degree was from the School of Public Administration. He could not have known then that his life would be dedicated to service in providing good governance. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Ole Miss in 1966, having served as Treasurer of Sigma Nu, a member of the ASB Judicial Council, and on the Moot Court Board. He was a member of ODK Leadership fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity and Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. Upon graduating he joined the FBI, producing the only “top hood” conviction in his Gary, Indiana office. In 1972 he returned to McComb to practice law, serving as City Attorney for McComb and Summit from 1972 to 1992. He was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1976. Always a strong supporter of Public Education, he worked with Governor Winter, serving as Vice-Chairman of the Education Committee and Chairman of the interim study committee that produced and led in the passage of the Education Reform Act of 1982. He was also the Chairman of the Municipalities Committee, and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Governor Winter appointed him to the Southern Regional Education Board, and Governor Maybus appointed him to the Public Education Forum of Mississippi. In 1992 he returned to the private practice of law and was elected Mayor of McComb in 2003 in time to meet the challenges from Katrina which also shattered McComb in 2005. During the Katrina recovery, in 2006 he joined the staff of Governor Haley Barbour as Housing Policy Director, and then as head of the community revitalization division of the Mississippi Development Authority. In total he guided the expenditures of more than $5 billion dollars provided by the Federal Government for the rebuilding work that included city and county public buildings along the Gulf Coast as well as grants for the rebuilding of the arts such as the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in Biloxi. After Katrina and in retirement in 2011 he joined FEMA part time as Disaster Assistant Employee/Intergovernmental Specialist for recovery of a tornado in Birmingham, AL and recovery from Hurricane Isaac in Mississippi.Governor Tate Reeves appointed Tommy to the Mississippi Home Corporation Board of Directors, where he served from 2016 to 2018. He strongly respected and supported the thousands of folks from small towns to the federal government level who devote their lives to public service. He felt honored to be numbered among them. In lieu of traditional flowers, the family requests that donations first be given to Children’s of Mississippi Hospital by clicking on the following link https://umc.edu/Development/Give-Now.html or, alternatively to https://www.stjude.org/ The staff at Coleman Funeral Home of Oxford is honored to serve the family during this challenging season of life. Condolences may be expressed online on his Tribute wall at www.colemanfuneralhomeox.com.

Thomas Halton Walman

December 9, 1943 - April 4, 2026

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