Thomas “Tom” Glenn Ivanoff believed if a job needed doing, you didn’t wait for help. You climbed on the tractor, grabbed the tools and went to work.
A Navy veteran, small-town police chief, firefighter, rancher and internationally respected gunsmith, Ivanoff died Dec. 25, 2025. He was 95.
Born May 31, 1930, in Los Angeles, Ivanoff was raised on his family’s farm in Ada, Oklahoma, where long days of physical labor shaped his sense of responsibility early. Those years, family members said, taught him that if something needed doing, you did it yourself and you did it well.
At 15, Ivanoff enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving his country during the final years of World War II. After his honorable discharge, he returned to California, working for the Coca-Cola Co. while studying mechanical drafting. It was a pattern he would follow for the rest of his life, working full time while teaching himself something new.
In 1952, Ivanoff married Shirley Montpetit, and the couple eventually settled in Peotone. Together they had four children, Sandra, Thomas Jr., Clayton and Christopher. Ivanoff worked as a transmission mechanic and became deeply involved in village life. From 1953 to 1965, he served with the Peotone Fire Department, responding to emergencies while raising his young family.
Ivanoff later became Peotone’s chief of police, a role that expanded beyond law enforcement. He also took responsibility for plowing village streets, a job he treated as a duty to his neighbors.
His son, Thomas Jr., remembers a massive snowstorm in 1969 that buried the area under 14 feet of snow.
“My dad was the first one out there plowing,” Thomas Jr. said. “That’s just who he was.”
Alongside his public service, Ivanoff owned a gun shop, quietly developing the skills that would later make him an internationally known gunsmith. His first wife, Shirley, died in 1965, a loss that marked a turning point in his life.
In 1968, Ivanoff married Helen Gotz Pleckham, who brought three children into the family, Dennis, Neal and Diane. Ivanoff embraced the instant expansion of the household, raising all of the children as his own. Tom and Helen later welcomed two more sons, Kelly and Barry, further growing the family.
On the family farm, Ivanoff’s practical nature mixed with a playful streak. He collected unusual animals, including two peacocks that aggressively guarded the property, much to the terror of the children and Ivanoff’s own amusement.
In 1976, Ivanoff retired as police chief and moved his family west to Cody, Wyoming, drawn by open land and new challenges. He and Helen purchased and operated Blackwater Lodge before selling it in 1981 and turning to ranching. Their operation included cattle, horses, quail and, according to family lore, one particularly obnoxious llama.
As his ranch grew, so did Ivanoff’s reputation as a master gunsmith. Entirely self taught, he became internationally recognized for his bluing and color case hardening techniques. Evenings often found him buried in books, studying metallurgy, mechanics or art.
That curiosity extended beyond firearms. Ivanoff was a skilled horseman and devoted outdoorsman who spent countless hours hunting and fishing. His home reflected those passions, with walls lined by trophies and shelves displaying bronze sculptures he taught himself to create, tangible proof of a mind that never stopped learning.
Family members describe Ivanoff as steady, capable and quietly proud. He believed in doing things yourself, passing that ethic to his children by example rather than instruction.
Ivanoff is survived by his children Sandra “Sandy” (Doug) Wilson, Thomas Jr. “Bud” (Debbie), Kelly (Tamra) and Barry (Pam); stepchildren Dennis (Mary) Pleckham, Neal (Phyllis) Pleckham and Diane “Dee” (Larry) Bettenhausen; daughters in law Cindy Ivanoff and Liudmila “Mila” Ivanoff; and numerous grandchildren and extended family members.
He was preceded in death by his wives, Shirley Montpetit Ivanoff, who died in 1965, and Helen Gotz Ivanoff, who died in 2024, and by sons Clayton and Christopher Ivanoff.
Services will be held Monday, Jan. 12, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Cody. A rosary prayer will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. A luncheon will follow in the church basement.