Thomas Harold Netherton, Jr., known as Tom Netherton, is a singer best known for his long tenure on The Lawrence Welk Show. The lanky six-foot five-inch Netherton was born in Munich, Germany, as the son of a United States Army officer stationed there. The eldest of four children, he and his family moved around frequently. In 1961, however, the Nethertons settled permanently in Bloomington, Minnesota. Netherton enlisted in the Army during the Vietnam War era, and was sent to Panama. By that time, he had also chosen to pursue a career in music, singing with the Army and Air Force bands. He became a born again Christian when he listened to a sermon at a Baptist church in Panama. Upon leaving the service, he spent a year at the Bethany Fellowship Missionary Training Center in Bloomington, where after being torn between missionary service and a career in entertainment, chose to follow the same path taken by his idol Pat Boone, by being a Christian singer. He joined Lawrence Welk in 1973 on the recommendation of both Harold and Sheila Schafer, owners of the Medora Musical in Medora, North Dakota; a show where Tom was performing at the time. 

January 11th, 1947 in Munich  /  Died:   Jan 7th, 2018