Tom was born Nov. 22, 1928, in Richmond, Va., to Thomas D. and Claudia Lewis Wright. He grew up on Bonnie Brae Farm in Durham, N.C.
A graduate of Millbrook School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Princeton. He was on the business board of The Daily Princetonian and joined Quadrangle. He roomed with Don McLean, Jim Wallis, and Rollin White. From 1951 to 1954 he served as a gunnery officer on the USS Laffey.
In 1961, Tom joined Tomrich Construction in Durham with his brother, eventually serving as its president. He later worked with Cape Land Co. in Wilmington, N.C.
Tom’s 1967 marriage to Carolyn Pumfrey ended in divorce. Tom was a lifelong enthusiast of fox hunting and co-founded the Triangle Hunt in Bahama, N.C., where he was master of fox hounds from 1961 to 1980. From 1980 to 1982 he was master of fox hounds of the Oakley Hunt in Bedfordshire, England.
Tom died July 21, 2011, in South Burlington, Vt. He is survived by his daughter, Lucy Ormrod; his son, Thomas D. Jr.; four grandchildren; and his sisters, Claudia Elliman and Elizabeth Dicconson. His sisters Meriwether Hudson and Diana McCargo and his brother, Richard H. Wright III, predeceased him.