Today in Wheeling History: December 23—Future Ohio County sheriff and FBI special agent Thomas F. Burgoyne Sr., later a Wheeling civic leader, is born in Lancaster, Massachusetts (1940).
Thomas Francis Burgoyne Sr. was born December 23, 1940, in Lancaster, Massachusetts, the oldest child of Francis and Alice (Langen) Burgoyne. He graduated from Lancaster High School in 1958 and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Anselm College in 1963. He began his federal career as an FBI clerk in Washington, D.C., and in 1965 completed training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, becoming a Special Agent under Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Burgoyne’s early assignments took him to Miami, where he served on the Fugitive Squad, followed by transfers to Pittsburgh and ultimately Wheeling in the late 1960s. In Wheeling he met and married his wife, Kathy, and the couple settled in the Dimmeydale neighborhood. He later headed the Federal Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force in the Wheeling FBI Office, securing numerous convictions during a period of expanding regional drug‑enforcement efforts.
After retiring from the FBI in 1996 with 33 years of service, Burgoyne taught criminal justice at Wheeling Jesuit University. In 2000, he was elected Ohio County Sheriff, serving two terms through 2008. As sheriff, he founded S.W.E.A.T. (Support Wheeling’s Effort at Teens), a program focused on mentoring youth through community service.
Burgoyne also coached youth sports, served on local boards, and remained active at Wheeling Central Catholic High School, where his children graduated. He and Kathy received the Bishop’s Cross in 2015, and in 2021 he was honored with the Youth Services System Good Samaritan Award. He died January 26, 2023, and was interred at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling.
To learn more: Lede News (https://tinyurl.com/2rkjdw7h), The Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/3hh8t8w2) (https://tinyurl.com/ym8hrfbj) (https://tinyurl.com/32x25ztk), WTRF-TV (https://tinyurl.com/yywpsadm)
Photo credits: Thomas F. Burgoyne Sr. (Legacy)
Thomas Francis Burgoyne Sr. was born December 23, 1940, in Lancaster, Massachusetts, the oldest child of Francis and Alice (Langen) Burgoyne. He graduated from Lancaster High School in 1958 and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from St. Anselm College in 1963. He began his federal career as an FBI clerk in Washington, D.C., and in 1965 completed training at the FBI Academy in Quantico, becoming a Special Agent under Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Burgoyne’s early assignments took him to Miami, where he served on the Fugitive Squad, followed by transfers to Pittsburgh and ultimately Wheeling in the late 1960s. In Wheeling he met and married his wife, Kathy, and the couple settled in the Dimmeydale neighborhood. He later headed the Federal Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force in the Wheeling FBI Office, securing numerous convictions during a period of expanding regional drug‑enforcement efforts.
After retiring from the FBI in 1996 with 33 years of service, Burgoyne taught criminal justice at Wheeling Jesuit University. In 2000, he was elected Ohio County Sheriff, serving two terms through 2008. As sheriff, he founded S.W.E.A.T. (Support Wheeling’s Effort at Teens), a program focused on mentoring youth through community service.
Burgoyne also coached youth sports, served on local boards, and remained active at Wheeling Central Catholic High School, where his children graduated. He and Kathy received the Bishop’s Cross in 2015, and in 2021 he was honored with the Youth Services System Good Samaritan Award. He died January 26, 2023, and was interred at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wheeling.
To learn more: Lede News (https://tinyurl.com/2rkjdw7h), The Intelligencer (https://tinyurl.com/3hh8t8w2) (https://tinyurl.com/ym8hrfbj) (https://tinyurl.com/32x25ztk), WTRF-TV (https://tinyurl.com/yywpsadm)
Photo credits: Thomas F. Burgoyne Sr. (Legacy)
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