Background
Shrader was born on July 12, 1943 in Marlinton, West Virginia, United States; the son of George Henry Shrader and Lula Katherine (Wymer) Shrader.
400 N 2nd Ave, Tucson, Arizona, United States
Shrader graduated from Tucson High School in 1961.
Shrader was born on July 12, 1943 in Marlinton, West Virginia, United States; the son of George Henry Shrader and Lula Katherine (Wymer) Shrader.
Shrader graduated from Tucson High School in 1961. Six years later he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Arizona. Then in 1972, Thomas received a Master of Science degree from the same university.
Shrader began his career as an office manager for the Sanz School of Languages and a contractor at the Defense Language Institute in 1968, where he had worked for two years.
In 1972, he took a position of an agronomist at the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation. Two years later Thomas was appointed a conservation agronomist at the same bureau. Then in 1977, he became an ecologist at the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation. Also he served as a supervisory natural resource specialist at that bureau from 1985 to 1991. In 1991, Shrader held a position of a supervisory biologist at the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation, where he worked until 2003.
In addition, in the 1990s, Tomas managed a program of donating collections of scientific journals to international institutes such as the Manchurian Wheat Institute in China, University of Philippines-Las Bonus and Agronomy Institute in Turkey. In his positions with the US Bureau of Reclamation, he initiated native riparian revegetation programs on the Rio Grande and Colorado River, and in retirement, he participated in the Native Plant Society of Texas, encouraging native riparian restoration on the Rio Grande.
Shrader was a member of the Arizona Riparian Council, American Society of Agronomy, Weed Science Society of America, Gamma Sigma Delta and Phi Kappa Phi. He served as a Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus Council 14025 from 2007 to 2008.
Shrader enjoyed carpentry, especially making shelves with hidden joints and small tables. Also he was a serious bibliophile with well over five thousand books. He collected the works of Jack London, Civil War references, southwestern and Allegheny mountain biology and history, and American and international sports.
On January 15, 1966 Thomas Shrader married Michele H. Nguyen. They have a child and a grandson.