OBITUARY: Thomas Malone Trabue Jr.

Thomas Malone Trabue Jr died January 20, 2026 at the age of 86 in Nashville, TN. He is survived by his wife of 60 years Evelyn Klaus Trabue; his daughter Julia Trabue Owen (Will) of Tunica, Mississippi and his grandchildren Virginia Malone Owen and Will Whitten Owen III. He was preceded in death by his son Thomas Malone Trabue III, parents Martha Billington and Thomas Trabue, and sister Polly Ann Trabue Halliday.

Born November 21, 1939 in Nashville, TN, Tommy graduated from Peabody High School. He spent two years traveling in Europe where he studied at the Sorbonne and Alliance-Francais in Paris. He graduated from the University of the South, Sewanee, TN where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

After graduation he moved to New Orleans where he worked at Whitney National Bank. After marrying Evelyn they moved back to Nashville where Tommy followed his entrepreneurial spirit and bought a boat manufacturing company, Ebbtide Corporation. He grew the company and his designs won multiple performance, innovation and manufacturing awards. He also owned Marine Concepts in Cape Coral, FL and Bainbridge Festive Foods in Nashville, TN.

Tommy was a founding member of the American Boat Builders Association. He was a board member and twice president of his beloved Monteagle Sunday School Assembly on the Cumberland Plateau where he and Evelyn spent summers with their family. Tommy was a member of the Belle Meade Country Club, the Cumberland Club, The Buffalo River Hunting Club, Useppa Island Club, Ebbtide Racing Team and Tennessee Tubs Porsche 356 Enthusiasts Club. He was a member of St George’s Episcopal Church.

Tommy was a member of The Richland Creek Commerce Association (RCCA), a group of contemporaries who ‘grew up along the banks of Richland Creek.’ Most were grammar school classmates who became lifelong friends who gathered monthly to discuss current events and remember times past.

Tommy was passionate about hunting, fishing in southwest Florida, boating, tennis and especially vintage cars. He raced vintage cars and won many awards at Daytona, Sebring, Road Atlanta, and the Monterey Historic at Pebble Beach. He was an avid car collector selling an RSK Porsche to Jerry Seinfeld and a Cunningham to Jay Leno. His Porsche 550, the Carrera Panamerica is now in the Porsche Museum in Germany. As a Motorsport enthusiast he always said if it has an engine and goes fast, odds are he’d be interested.

The family wants to thank Brent Aulidge for his faithful friendship during this difficult time as well as Lady Walls and her caregiving team. Visitation will be Saturday, January 31 at 11:30 am in Hampton Hall at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN. Memorial contributions may be made to the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly, P.O. Box 307, Monteagle, TN 37356 to be directed to the Malone Trabue Youth Fund; or the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, P.O. Box 224, Tunica, MS 38676.