Vienna City Council honors Tom Azinger
Councilman died in July at 89
An Honor Guard walks down the aisle at the Vienna City Council meeting on Thursday to present the Azinger family with a United States flag and the West Virginia state flag to honor the deceased Tom Azinger. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
State Senator Mike Azinger, the son of the deceased Tom Azinger, introduces himself and his family to Vienna City Council attendees on Thursday. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
At Thursday evening’s Vienna City Council meeting, Regional Representative for Gov. Jim Justice Jeff Sandy reads a proclamation from the Governor’s Office that honors Tom Azinger. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
Tom Azinger
Bernie Lyons, left, presents the Azinger family, right, with the eagle, globe and anchor emblem to honor Tom Azinger’s service to the Marines. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
An Honor Guard walks down the aisle at the Vienna City Council meeting on Thursday to present the Azinger family with a United States flag and the West Virginia state flag to honor the deceased Tom Azinger. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
State Senator Mike Azinger, the son of the deceased Tom Azinger, introduces himself and his family to Vienna City Council attendees on Thursday. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
At Thursday evening’s Vienna City Council meeting, Regional Representative for Gov. Jim Justice Jeff Sandy reads a proclamation from the Governor’s Office that honors Tom Azinger. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
Tom Azinger
Bernie Lyons, left, presents the Azinger family, right, with the eagle, globe and anchor emblem to honor Tom Azinger’s service to the Marines. (Photo by Gwen Sour)
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VIENNA -- Vienna City Council honored the recently deceased Councilman Tom Azinger with an honor guard and speeches from family and government members.
Azinger was a Parkersburg native and attended Parkersburg High School. From there he attended West Virginia University where he received a business degree. After college, Azinger joined the U.S. Marines. During his lawmaking career, Azinger served for over 10 terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
The ceremony took place at the beginning of the regularly scheduled Vienna City Council meeting Thursday. Azinger's son, state Senator Mike Azinger, introduced himself and his family and thanked everyone for attending. Alongside him was his brother, John Azinger, his wife, Jackie, and his daughter, Sophie. Other attendees included Delegate Bob Fehrenbacher, former Delegate Dan Poling, Delegate Bill Anderson, Governor Chief of Staff Patrick Mirandy and Regional Representative for Gov. Jim Justice Jeff Sandy who had also previously served as Sheriff of Wood County and a former West Virginia Secretary of Homeland Security.
Bernie Lyons spoke to the Azinger family next. Lyons was a friend of Azinger and reminisced about their shared time on Parris Island, a military base in South Carolina. Lyons said they met in 1956 and the lesson that they took out of Parris Island was honor, courage and commitment.
"Your dad lived that all the time," said Lyons. "I'm sure he gave that to you guys and to help you remember ... I'd like to give you each an eagle, globe and anchor."
Lyons presented each member of the Azinger family with the emblem as a keepsake for them to remember and honor Azinger.
During the service, Sandy honored those who served in the armed forces. Sandy said he knew Azinger for decades and saw it as an honor to represent Gov. Jim Justice during the meeting. Sandy read a proclamation from Justice that detailed the history of Azinger's life and celebrated the impact he left behind.
"The citizens of the state of West Virginia, friends and associates of Delegate Tom Azinger desire to recognize his dedicated public service to the great state of West Virginia and to acknowledge his valuable contributions to the state," said the proclamation by Justice.
The proclamation said the state flags in Charleston and in Wood County were all lowered half-mast on July 20, 2024, to celebrate his life.
An honor guard presented the state flag to the Azinger family with the West Virginia state flag and United States flag in memory of Tom Azinger and his contribution to Wood County and the State of West Virginia.
Gwen Sour can be reached at gsour@newsandsentinel.com