Thomas Joseph Kedrowski

Thomas Joseph Kedrowski has passed at the age of 70. He was born on June 11, 1949 in Stevens Point Wisconsin. He was raised in a Polish Catholic family and had one brother and six sisters. Their family business was a welding and machine shop. Tom gained a work ethic and metalworking skills in this shop at a young age, but he preferred to tinker with his grandfather in his grandfather's garage. They built things like perpetual motion machines and spring-loaded catapults. In addition, Tom's grandfather taught him how to cuss properly. It's an art and not everyone does it right.

Tom played football in high school and broke his leg badly for the first time. After high school, he attended college for a brief stint but spent more time partying than studying. As a result, he dropped out and was drafted into the war in Vietnam. While serving, Tom was selected to attend sniper training and became an Army Ranger. This put him in a tight-knit four-person group who performed reconnaissance missions. They had many intense experiences that bonded those four men. Tom respected and loved them for the rest of his life. Tom received several honors and metals including the Purple Heart. The Purple Heart came when he stepped out of a helicopter in a hot zone. He took two steps and received enemy bullet shrapnel to his leg in three locations. Fallen, the next helicopter dropped more soldiers then picked up Tom. Tom was flown to a military hospital and resuscitated.

Upon returning from the Army and Vietnam, Tom believed there is more to life. He bought a sports car, an MGB made by British Motor Company, packed up his few belongings and moved out west to Colorado. In Gunnison, he re-enrolled in college. There he met Sharon Alice Tate. They fell in love and promptly dropped out of college. They dropped out of society as well and began living in a tipi that Sharon made by hand. Their camp was in the national forest outside of Crested Butte. Their love affair resulted in the birth of a son, Philip Redleaf Kedrowski, who was born in that teepee in October of 1975. Tom's trade was logging, he used mules to gather and deliver logs. He was a mule skinner. One day, while drinking with a friend, he bet his mule would beat his friend's horse in a race. So they set out and sure enough, the mule prevailed. However, when they reached the other side of the meadow, a downed tree prompted the mule to jump, throwing Tom off. With forward momentum, Tom fell to the ground, his leg slid under the tree and broke badly for the second time.

Although Tom hadn't spoken to his parents in years, they loved him. They paid his medical bills. Laid up, Tom and Sharon packed up Philip and moved to a warmer climate for the winter. That winter was spent healing in Nacadoshish, TX. It only took one winter for Tom to realize he wasn't a Texan, so they packed up and moved back to Colorado. To Saguache first, then to Bayfield. Tom and Sharon divorced shortly after.

Needing a trade, Tom attended the Oklahoma Farriers College founded by Bud Beaston. Horseshoeing and blacksmithing became Tom's profession and he moved back to Colorado. This time to Ignacio and Ignacio would be his home town for the rest of his life. His friends used to joke that Ignacio was a tri-ethnic community because they had Southern Utes, Mexicans, and one Polack. Tom was that Polack.

Tom was an expert farrier and blacksmith. He honed his skills in his shop at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds. His shop became a gathering place for Indians and Cowboys to hang out and tell tall tales. All the while, Tom was banging away at his anvil. Making shoes and practicing the art of blacksmithing. His skills were widely respected and he worked shoeing horses all over southwestern Colorado and into New Mexico. Tom put together a team to compete in forging and horseshoeing completions. Ernest "Muzzy" Pinnecoose was the striker, Dan Purcell was the farrier and Tom was the blacksmith. This team won several ribbons.

In addition to blacksmithing competitions, Tom competed in trail riding. These competitive trail riding events consist of 40-mile rides each day for two to three days. Tom competed, often placing in the top three, in these horse endurance events with Arabian horses he had trained. These horses brought Tom immense joy and pride.

Tom married and divorced two more times. He and his third wife, Brenda Lee, moved out of town to a small piece of land. This is where Tom spent his final years irrigating, gardening and maintaining the property. This was Tom's personal Eden.

This is not the first time Tom died. When shot in Vietnam, he bled to death and his heart stopped for five minutes. The medics pumped adrenaline into his heart and revived him. He reported having an out-of-body experience. He often said the feeling during this experience was better than anything he had ever felt prior or since. He has found that bliss again.

At Tom's request, his ashes will be spread on Jura Knob in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado.

Thomas Joseph Kedrowski