Tammo Jurjen (Tom) Mellema, 79, passed away on Sunday, October 18, 2009, in Houston at the Memorial Hermann Hospital.Services were held at 10:00 a.m., on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at the First Baptist Church in Dalhart. Burial was in Memorial Park Cemetery, Dalhart, Texas Officiants were Janet Edwards, Pastor of United Methodist Church in Claude, Texas and Steve Patterson, Pastor of Central United Methodist Church in Dalhart, Texas and Rodney Weatherly, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Dalhart, Texas. Tom was born on February 25, 1930 in Beerta, Holland to Sieto and Annegien Mellema. He served in the military in The Netherlands for two years. He married Liny Gerber on January 11, 1956 in Delfzijl. On November 26, 1979 Tom and his wife, Liny, and 3 children immigrated from The Netherlands to Dalhart, Texas. Toms life and hobby was farming. He loved the outdoors and his favorite transportation on the farm was his 4-wheeler. He could always be found on the farm and in town wearing his wooden shoes. He loved his wife and family and especially his 7 grandchildren. Tom has served on the Dallam County Farm Bureau Board of Directors and the High Plains Water District Board of Directors. He received The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Farm and Ranch Award in 1997 for Texas Best in Corn Beef Cattle/Other Crops and in 1989 he received the Farmer/Rancher of the Year Award at the Annual Chamber of Commerce Banquet. He is survived by his wife Liny of the home, his son, Sieto and his wife Misty Mellema of Dalhart, daughter Jantje (Jeanet) and her husband Nick Olson of Dalhart, daughter Annegien and her husband Cord Offermann of Austin, Texas, grandchildren, Tammo, Matt and Mitchell Mellema, Samantha and Christian Olson, Greyson and Ryan Offermann, his sister, Frederika Mellema of Winschoten, The Netherlands and special friends of over 65 years, John and Siny Brinkman. He was preceded in death by his parents. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Bi-County Livestock Scholarship Fund: Attn: Ryan Moorhouse, P.O. Box 445, Dalhart, Texas 79022 or XIT Museum P. O. Box 730, Dalhart, Texas 79022 or Dallam Hartley County Hospital Foundation P.O. Box 2014, Dalhart, Texas 79022.