Thomas "Tom" Ray Burling

October 10, 1957 - April 25, 2022

Thomas Ray Burling, 64, of Kennesaw, died peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of Monday, April 25, 2022. Funeral Services will be held at Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home and Crematory on Thursday, April 28th. Family will receive friends from 3:00 to 4:00 pm followed by a memorial service at 4:00 p.m. Tim Rogers of The Gathering Church is officiating. Interment will be in Kennesaw Memorial Park, Marietta, Georgia, at a later date. Survivors include his parents, Dennis and Clara Burling of Canton, his wife, Ginny Lyon Burling of Kennesaw, his brother, Dennis Burling (Kim), his children, Matthew Burling of Milton, Andrea DiRocco (Ryan) of Milton, and Dennis Carl Burling of Atlanta, stepchildren, Paul Grupe, III (Kayla) of Dallas, GA, and Lindsay Grupe Walker of Alpharetta. He leaves seven beautiful grandchildren: Anthony DiRocco, Nico DiRocco, Dominic DiRocco, Enza DiRocco, Scarlett Burling, Payton Grupe, and Nathan Grupe. He also leaves several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister, Debbie Burling Calhoun. Before Tom’s disability in 2016, he was a Baptist preacher. He served at both Hill Street Baptist Church and LaBelle Heights Baptist Church. To supplement his preacher salary, he also worked for Tulix Systems for over 20 years. Tulix was supportive of his “preacher” schedule and always let him take care of his parishioners. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Tom’s name to The Georgia Audubon Society at georgiaaudubon.org. Tom loved his birds and took such great care of our backyard residents (as Tom would call them).