Thomas Mendenhall, born April 12, 1945 to Carleton and Alice Mendenhall, has lived on the East End his entire life.  He attended East Quogue Elementary School through the fifth grade and then moved on to sixth grade at the then six corners school in Westhampton Beach. He graduated Westhampton Beach High School in 1963 and then headed to SUNY Farmingdale to study heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

Following college, Mendenhall received his draft papers and reported for  basic training at Fort Gordon in Georgia in 1966. After Basic he was sent to Fort Sam in Texas in for Combat medic training. He rounded off his training at Fort Carson in Colorado in the winter of 1966-67 in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning program.

In March 1967, Mendenhall after receiving orders for Vietnam, he was sent to Camp Radcliff in the central highlands near An Khe. He served with the 86^th Engineer Detachment, attached to the 1^st Calvary unit. While in Vietnam, Mendenhall first assisted in building barracks and then was assigned as the motor pool parts coordinator where he ordered and inventoried all parts. He recalls long nights pulling guard duty when the Viet Cong would attack the main camp gates with mortars that were constantly being fired into the camp.  Americans, he said fired big guns, known as Howitzers back out of the camp.

Following the end of his tour in February 1968, Mendenhall was released from active duty and headed back home to East Quogue. He went to work for the family business that was started by his grandfather.  At that time, the company was called Columbia Garage, and sold gasoline and kerosene. When his father took over the business, he started C L Mendenhall Fuel offering home heating oil delivery service with a 1929 Chevy pickup on which he mounted a 300-gallon tank. He changed the business name to Mendenhall Fuel, Inc. in 1965 and in 1980, he passed the business on to his son.

While working, Mendenhall volunteered for the East Quogue Fire Department. He is a 54-year member and past chief. He is also a 58-year member of the East Quogue United Methodist Church and has 51 years with the Westhampton VFW. For the past three years, he has been a member of the American Legion. He has four daughters, Rebecca, Sarah, Tracee and Jessica from a previous marriage and a daughter and son, PJ and Frank through his wife, Peggy.  Together, they have five grandchildren, Zack, Noelle, Max, Jakob and Alora.