Same surnames so Thomas' brother is Joe III. Thomas father should be Joe II. BUT...
Thomas Hinrichs was arrested Nov. 15 in Colorado Springs after his father, Thomas Hinrichs Sr
It's not? What the hell?
He legally changed his name for the same reason relatives of Hitler had.
It doesn't work that way. I think Sr. and Jr. imply passing on the name straight from father to son, but with II and III, you can skip generations.
There's no such person as Thomas Hinrichs Sr. Something smells here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suffix_(name)
It's Wikipedia, so YMMV.
Basically, when Joe has a son and names him Joe, they are Joe Sr. and Joe Jr. Then when Joe Jr. has a son and he names him Joe, then Joe Sr, becomes Joe I, Joe Jr, becomes Joe II, and the new one becomes Joe III.
But when Joe I dies, the two remaining Joes can, at their option, become Joe Sr. and Joe Jr., or remain Joe II and Joe III.
Make sense?