Thomas Michael Congoran

1943 - 2021

Thomas Michael Congoran

Hopkinton, NH — Thomas Michael Congoran passed away on September 8, 2021.

Tommy Congoran watched his Bubba's (Grandmother's) hands move in and out kneading the pita bread for a whole day. Eventually, it would stretch the full length of the dining table reminding him of the many relatives not able to partake of this tradition and to be grateful.

His Grandfather Mile had come to America alone from Yugoslavia about 1904. It took him three years of hard immigrant labor to save enough money to bring his wife and their firstborn, Christie ( Tom's father) to Chicago. Their given name was Crnogorac (pronounced Se No Gritz meaning from the Black Mountains) but they were often called "snot rags". The six youngsters begged their father to allow the name to be changed. "Crnogorac" became "Congoran".

Christie went to work just after high school to help support his siblings. Not long after, he met LaVerne Schmidt of German descent and married her over the countless objections of his Serbian family.

Tom's boyhood days were spent chasing baseball games in alleys, streets, and any empty lot. He would follow his sister and guardian angel, Barb, and her friends to the basement for a game of pool, or shadow any live body working on a car. Grandpa Schmidt, an inventor, often said, "This boy has no common sense!"

Eventually, Tom's adventures sealed the deal for his father and Tom was off to St. John's Military Academy in Wisconsin. Tom excelled at his new school and earned a partial scholarship to Stanford. He earned the rest of his tuition working throughout the school year and into the summers. While there he met my brother Davy and they became roommates. Two boys, born on the same day, sharing a room with a couple of exhaust manifolds and greasy tools everywhere —to their common delight.

Tom and I started writing when I was 15. I'm sure my brother goaded Tom into writing because, let's face it, Tom was the big, handsome, athletic, brilliant Stanford man, and I was the weeny sister who had just fallen off a horse on her face.

The writing was wonderful, but it was up to me to catch a ride to Chicago and rescue him from an absolutely horrible existence at the pool hall, or driving his souped-up car around, or sailing on Lake Michigan.

The next few years brought us new schools, new jobs, new friends, and beautiful memories as we lived together all over the country (much to the chagrin of our fathers). We might lay down to sleep in a grassy meadow and wake up to a puzzled cow standing over us. There was a lot of hiking and driving as Tom's curiosity would push him up one more mountain or around one more bend in the road.

After serving in the Army Tom earned his master's degrees in accounting, education, and business from Tufts, San Diego State, and the University of British Columbia.

Teaching seemed to call to him, especially from a vantage point several hundred feet in the air inspecting smokestacks as "supervisor of particulate testing" for Clean Air Engineering.

Following our marriage in 1978, we moved to New Mexico where Tom began writing a more useable income tax software program. By day he used his CPA hat to support us by doing taxes for people. He could often be found incommunicado in the garage (his office) with papers strewn across cardboard boxes (his desk) while delicately balancing his new baby, Marguerite, on his arm. His diet? the diet of champions, green chile stew.

The next few years brought the same balancing of family (his son Thomas was born in N.H.) with incredible commitments to some very large entities.

He was the consummate good listener and defender of the underdog. Jo Anne Foley (CEO of IHopeNetwork) remembers him being easily able to synthesize large amounts of complicated information down into what mattered most. Some of his business undertakings included: DIS and CFO of Healthsource (bought by Cigna), his own consulting business, AHS Consulting which ministered to Blue Cross Blue Shield in several states, and then as COO guided the purchase of BCBS of NH by Anthem Healthcare. He asked several people to join him in creating the 1Mind Corporation, which was purchased by the globally recognized software company, Pegasystems. Tom assumed the management and growth of Pegasystems' entire healthcare business.

Later Tom was coaxed out of retirement to accept the role of CFO for both Harvard Vanguard and Atrius Health committing to the long drives every night from Boston to N.H. and his awaiting family. Gene Lindsey, past CEO of Atrius, remembers, "Tom's greatest skill was his ability to lift others." .

Tom spent countless hours helping people of all ages address the business and life questions that faced them. He loved his little community of Contoocook and Hopkinton.

He was equally happy, as a selectman, answering raised hands at the town hall or preparing his Contoocook Carry Triathlon course with friend Chris Lawless He started the Sean Powers Wood Bank so that emergency cordwood might be available to all through the cold winters and formed the Contoocook Carry Community Fund, a year-round nonprofit helping anyone with fuel assistance needs.

He enjoyed cutting pies for the Dimitri Tsihlis family as they fed the whole community at Thanksgiving.

Tom felt blessed that his two children could stand side by side with him and experience the satisfaction of simply giving with their own two hands to the well-being of friends and neighbors.

As for me Babe, I lack your grace. You did teach me how to tie a bowline knot, and how to rewind a yoyo, but you never got around to whispering in my ear how I should ever get along without you standing…beside me...I love you forever.

Farewell Sweet Babe, Mary

Wood Day is November 13. The work starts at 9 am until done, rain or shine. There will be a moment for Tom, noonish.

If you would like to send notes or contributions to the Contoocook Carry Community Fund 362 Old Holmes Rd. Hopkinton, NH 03229 (cccommunityfund.org) (woodforwarmth.org)