Born January 9, 1959
Died October 10, 2003
Tom died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack at age 44.
Tom was my soul mate, best friend and loving husband. He was a protective father and adoring grandfather.
This quilt patch represents the things that were important in Tom's life. Purple was Tom's favorite color. The purple material is from a t-shirt Tom acquired from our trip to Alaska. He was able to spend a day deep-sea fishing for halibut. The flower print is from one of Tom's shirts. This shirt reminded Tom of our trip to Hawaii. It was Tom's dream to move to Kauai. To honor Tom's wishes, Kauai is where Tom's ashes will be spread sometime in the future.
The pictures are from clockwise: Our wedding in Hot Springs National Park; Tom with granddaughter, Natasha, in the fall/winter 2002; Tom dancing with our daughter, Jennifer, at her wedding reception to the song Butterfly Kisses for the father/daughter dance.
Tom began selling insurance with me in 2002. The next 2 pictures were taken in 2002. Tom was very active and proud to be a member of Insurance Woman of York and the National Association of Insurance Women. Tom loved to tell anyone who would listen, why he belonged to a group simply referred to as "insurance women"-his association of choice!
The first of these two pictures is Tom receiving the Insurance Woman of the Year Award in May 2003. The other picture was taken in Nashville, TN at the 2003 NAIW National Convention. Tom was speaking out against a proposed name change for the NAIW. Tom believed the associations' activities and reputation were the important issues, not the gender reference in the name. Tom felt the members needed to be as he was "NAIW Proud".
The three remaining photos are Tom with our granddaughters, Alexis and Natasha in March 2002; Tom with Jen, Alexis and Natasha, summer 2002; Tom with Alexis in summer 2001.
Tom lived his life by his belief "Never have regrets!"
Sweetheart, we will always love you!
Polly, Jen, Alexis and Natasha