Tom was born in Unity Hospital, N.Y. On December 6, 1931. He, his parents and twin sisters lived as rural as possible in urban Brooklyn, N.Y. While most people enjoyed all the finer things in life, his family lived in a small house, built by his father Ed, that didn’t have electricity, running water or bathrooms. Truly living in the “sticks” of overpopulated Brooklyn, N.Y. When Tom was 10, his parents separated and his mom, Marie, raised her three children alone. After 40 years, Tom was reunited with his father and his second family, three new sisters and one brother.

Tom married Anna Fiore on 12-8-1951 and was inducted into the Marines just a little over 1 ½ months later, sadly leaving his new bride. Tom and Anna went on to have three children, Michael, Thomas and Kathleen, all the pride of his life. Tom was a resident of Pana for over 53 years, moving here in 1968.

Tom looked at life as a gift from God! He never pressured anyone to think or feel as he did. His Catholic faith was strong and firm. He never knew a stranger!! Always making small talk to anyone sitting on a bench in the stores or malls.

Tom’s sense of humor was UN-match-able!! His jokes and pranks were and still are talked about whenever any friends or family get together. We always said we needed to record his “Tom-ism” for future generations.

Tom could re-purpose any piece of discarded wood into something great and sellable. He spent many hours seeking out good wood from junk piles and down little town alleys! He was so happy to be in his shed working on a project and even happier when he sold a piece he made. He had the vision to see a project and put the plans into action, even when we couldn’t see or understand what he was seeing!

Tom left us to be with the Lord on March 5th, 2021. He raised his beautiful blue eyes to Heaven and gave himself up to God. He almost made it to 90 years old and his 70th wedding anniversary