Thomas M. Fields, 91, a retired Marine Corps colonel who became executive director of a University of Maryland athletic fundraising organization, died Sunday, Nov. 29 at the Riderwood Village retirement community in Silver Spring, Md.

Mr. Fields was preceded in death by his mother and father, Coy and Beula McCallum Fields, formerly of Carthage, and two brothers, Robert and Douglas.

Col. Fields served in the Marines from 1942 to 1970. During World War II, he was a rifle company commander in the Pacific, where he received the Bronze Star for his actions during the Iwo Jima campaign. In later years, he narrated a segment for the History Channel concerning the Iwo Jima battle.

He was a combat veteran of the Korean War and Vietnam. His final active-duty assignment was as deputy director of information at Marine Corps headquarters.

Col. Fields was a standout athlete at the University of Maryland as a young man and returned to the school after his military retirement.

From 1970 to 1989, he was executive directorof the Maryland Educational Foundation, which raises money for athletic scholarships.

Thomas McCoy Fields was born in Carthage and spent his teenage years in Prince George's County, Md. Hewas a 1942 graduate of the University of Maryland, where he was anAll-American long distance and relay runner. He was inducted into the university's athletic hall of fame in 1987.

Col. Fields was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Patricia H. Fields, ofSilver Spring, Md.; four children, Thomas Fields Jr., of Reston, Va., Karen Fields, of Olney, Md., Lori Balserak, of Fairfax County, Va., DavidFields, of Vienna, Va.; anaunt, Myrtle D. McCallum, of Carthage, as well as several cousins in theCarthage area, including Gilbert M. Bailey.