Thomas Noel Tetting

Thomas Noel Tetting was born Dec. 18, 1953 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He was immediately recognized as trouble (why else the initials TNT?) and remained so all his life. He led life with a passion. Tom has spent his later years supporting conservation issues and groups like SWEC (Southwestern Environmental Coalition), SUWA (Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance), The Nature Conservancy, and the NWF (National Wildlife Federation). Although less active than when he was young, he learned the art of compromise involves combining future preservation with current environmental and population needs. Sadly he learned just how slow governmental processes work and how informed and vigilant the average affected person needs to be. While not fond of children most of his life, Tom discovered a joy in watching his last wife's grand children grow up. His last few years of his life were filled with pain due to earlier injuries and he spent much of his time trying to cure it. Tom had a love of many types of music including; smooth jazz, world folk, Indian flute, improvisational rock and roll, big band, classical, and fusion of all these genres. It sustained him through life as he transitioned from his father's 78's, to long play records (33's), 45's, cassettes, CD's, and in later years he attempted to convert to digital. Tom listened to the 'call' of wilderness all his life. In later years when he could hike and camp in less remote areas he found a way to accommodate his comfort needs while car camping with his wife Sara.

To know more about Tom we start here. Growing up on the east side of Milwaukee, he learned to distinguish the difference between types and styles of automobiles before the age of 4. He scrambled all over the Lake Drive area and ravines on the Lake Michigan shoreline, Bradford Beach, and the Lake Park area loving the out of doors and playing "Army" from the beginning. Throughout the 1950's and '60's he was exposed to a variety of jazz and classical music besides the normal AM rock format. Music remained one of Tom's most appreciated influences in life. Too bad he never learned to play an instrument but it is probably due to his lack of discipline in life. Tom attended a private school for his first 10 years, earning sibling enmity from his only sister, Judy. Due to a parental separation and subsequent reunion Tom began 5th grade in Minneapolis, MN making the friendship of Steven Gray which lasted him practically his whole life. Steven taught Tom that kissing girls was a worthwhile pursuit. Steven served as a role model for Tom and their mutual travel experiences a source of great joy in Tom's life. Thomas survived puberty in the Lake Harriet/Rose Garden area of Mpls, learning to bike ride and swim under his mother's tutelage. He played lots of singles tennis and pitched for a little league baseball team. Girls took over as Tom's main pursuit when he was 14 and he lost his virginity during the development of Flower Power and the Vietnam antiwar protests beginning in 1967. The War had a profound effect on Tom as did the loss of assassinated heroes; John and Robert Kennedy, and the Rev. Martin King; and the times introduced him to the political 'real world. Tom's other heroes include John Wesley Powell, Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammed Ali. By the time Tom was graduated from high school he developed a severe distrust of the "Establishment". He no longer could relate to ordinary scholastic pursuits and regimented lifestyles, yet knew there was more to learn and do. In 1971 Tom hitchhiked to Colorado with his buddy Paul Hartley, tuned into the Boulder (acid valley) scene and began an early love affair with the Rocky Mountains. Later that year he ran off with his high school sweetheart, Jan Kapsch to Europe, an unwitting graduation present from his Mother. Tom hitchhiked, took trains, boats and buses all over northern and southern Europe developing an overwhelming need to satisfy his gypsy travel spirit which continued throughout the rest of his life.

Thomas worked for the Teamsters, bartended and completed college at the U. of Minn.; a lifestyle that took six years of development. He idolized Zorba the Greek, leading a life of pure decadence and self indulgence in his twenties. There were more trips throughout the U.S., Mexico and Europe, highlighted by celebrations at Mardi Gras in N. O., Chinese New Year in San Francisco, and Bastille Day in Paris where Tom was attending summer school at the Sorbonne. Finally, Tom devoted the last of his college days to finishing a geology major at the U. of Minn. and enjoyed the company of others sharing the outdoors lifestyle his father tried to teach him. He was graduated in 1978 after an exceptional 6 week summer field camp in and around the West Elk Mtns. in Colorado. Surviving the disco era as a bartender, Tom continued tripping around the world with a glassblower, Sally and her daughter, Mariah and set off on a major hegira by Volkswagen bus to the jungles of Mexico and Central America. The trip encompassed a personal study of the Aztecs, Mayans and other Indian cultures of the south combined with tropical indulgences and escapades of lasting memory in El Salvador, Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala during the end of civil unrest there in the 1970's 'decade of revolution'.

Tom married the 1st of 3 wives, Sally, and helped his father rebuild an old farmhouse in Wisconsin in 1978. Packing everything he owned into an old pickup, taking the woman he loved, her daughter and a collie puppy, he moved to Seattle to pursue a fresh life and a career in geology. Seattle, the NW, the Pike Place Market lifestyle, his wife's career adventures in glass art, and a new found love of natural hot springs removed the last of any inhibitions Tom ever had. He embraced the Pacific Rim philosophies and yet before the cloudy, rainy North West climate drove him completely nuts, took a job as an environmental geologist in SLC, Utah. Finding a professional situation he liked at last, Tom immersed himself into mined land reclamation work in the Dept. of Natural Resources. Several years passed during which Tom explored the state of Utah extensively, both on the job and off. Again, a love of Indian lore and an environmental consciousness took hold as he became an ardent student of the Ancestral Puebloan culture and supported organizations such as Earth First! and the Sierra Club. Alas, complications crept into his life and job and he packed up his wife and daughter, quit his profession and headed off to South America. For 3 months over the winter in 1985 the family explored the mountains and jungles of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. It 'snowed' an awful lot in his life that winter and Tom acquired his first extra fino, Panama hat. Tom enjoyed to the fullest the Incan ruins and culture and made friends with the Maoist group known as The Shinning Path in Cuzco. Backpacking for 5 days on the Incan Royal Trail at elevations up to 18, 000 ft., just to arrive at dawn on the vernal equinox at Machu Picchu was a major highlight of that trip for Tom. Afterwards Tom's life just drifted in a disconcerting downward spiral; he got divorced, his best friend in SLC was killed in a motorcycle crash in front of his house, he worked odd jobs and learned to ski. Tom committed the worst mistake of his life when he joined the Mormon Church and married his dead best friend's wife and 5 kids. The only good thing about it was embracing Jesus Christ for the first time in his life. What followed was a nightmare of emotional stress while they all moved to Sedona, AZ to peace-out. The "mistake" finally ended up in chaos, and new age activism filled his life after another divorce. Spiritual healing occurred and heady with Red Rock-itis, Tom enjoyed a summer in Puerto Vallarta, learning the secrets of living without much money in paradise and savoring a recipe for fish head soup he learned from an ex-Green Beret. Craziness continued to fill his life and another fork in the road took Tom to Ouray, Colorado. Lots of hot springs, mountain air, and bachelor days kept him entertained if not still unfocused. Finally, after meeting and falling in love with his third wife, Sara, they pulled their two lives together and fled the cesspool of small town love affairs, also known as the Little Switzerland of America. Grand Junction, Colorado became home to them for 14 years until the real estate crash of 2008. Luckily, Tom forged a new career in real estate prior to the time of the recession, forming his own corporation in 2005. Life was never so good to Tom, considering all the pitfalls found in business. It took away much of his spontaneity replacing it with planning, consideration, integrity, and diligence. It also filled him with an unrelenting anxiety. One of Tom's most treasured moments in life came when he carried the 2002 Olympic torch in the cross country relay through Grand Junction on its way to SLC. Thomas enjoyed to the fullest his constant travels to visit places he could never afford before in life: He loved seeing his old friend again after many years, Steven Gray, in New Zealand

( and picked up a nasty staph infection in Fiji on the way back that nearly killed him); He soaked up the sun, sherry, bullfighting and flamenco music with Sara in Spain and Portugal; He passed through new year's eve at the Millennium on the tiny little tropical Caribbean isle of St. Maartin, drinking excellent French champagne; He thrilled to the history of England, Scotland and Wales during the summer festival season there in 2004; he and Sara boogied several times at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival; and almost annually he fit in several weeks playing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico or skiing at some North American resort, preferring the Lake Tahoe area even while living in the middle of Colorado's bountiful ski mountains. Tom loved to ski and made it a point to ski at every resort in Colorado and around Lake Tahoe enjoying the luxury of fair weather skiing and always pushing the limit to just short of hurting himself. He enjoyed the hobbies of bridge playing, caring for his garden, yard and houseplants, drinking the best wine he could afford and cooking more of the best food he ever ate.

As good luck would have it; Tom and Sara sold their home just before the recession and real estate market crash in the fall of '07 and moved to semi-retired status in a condo in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. Even though it was difficult to restart the real estate business, they enjoyed the exceedingly lush and stimulating environment, making new friends and enjoying new resort destinations throughout Mexico. As the world recession and drug woes of Mexico increased, Tom and Sara returned to the United States to search for a new career adventure in Las Cruces, NM. Tom was unsuccessful restarting in the real estate business but helped to survive in the recession in a semi-retired status by taking odd seasonal employment including a spectacular summer working as a maitre d' in the El Tovar Hotel on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Tom declared bankruptcy while living in Las Cruces and was saved from complete ruin by his only sister, Judy and his only Cousin, John with a small personal loan. Several years were spent exploring the national parks and monuments of the southwest, including never seen before areas in Texas. One of Tom's bucket list items was fulfilled in 2009 as he became a Judge for the Terlingua CASI Chili Cook-off. In 2014 Tom and Sara took a farewell trip of America up the California coast to National Parks in the West including; Death Valley, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Redwood, and Yellowstone. It was a grandiose Spring and avoided the busy tourist season as well as taking advantage of excellent weather and the lack of forest fires. A small book was produced about the trip based on the lives of their stuffed Teddy Bear and Bunny, Thumper. Sara had never seen the parks before so it was glorious seeing her enjoy the many marvelous park locations.

Sara and Tom sold their house in Las Cruces to take a 'bucket list' trip to SE Asia in 2016 after Tom recovered from back surgery. A primary goal was to visit their friend, Steve Vermeulen living in Siem Reap, Cambodia. They took six weeks to visit him and climb around the Buddhist temples of Angkor Wat, had great adventures as usual, and were glad of the timing as Steve died of a heart attack shortly after. Their later itinerary took them to Thailand to see the beaches, jungles and hot springs (around Phuket) as well as celebrations to the north in the mountains near Chiang Mai and the Myanmar border. Taking a boat trip down the Mekong River before it is dammed, was another highlight event as well as spending a 30 day visa in Laos getting familiar with elephants, conservation groups and festivals. Tom loved the country of Viet Nam and they took a train from Hanoi to Hue spending most of their time in the central region on the coast. Tom and Sara learned new culinary techniques and ate a lot of great food without gaining weight. Their gastronomic adventures continued in Malaysia-KL and Georgetown (Penang) and if it wasn't so costly Tom would still be there. Unfortunately, they went back to Cambodia where Tom picked up another infection and after a slight detour to a hospital in Bangkok found a great return flight back to the US via Paris, France and Lisbon, Portugal. Meanwhile they were invited to manage a country bed and breakfast in the south of Portugal. Unfortunately that didn't pan out partially due to his infection. At this time in life, Tom's only sister died in Florida and plans to visit her in Florida had to be changed. This allowed for a side trip on the way back to see the total eclipse of the sun in August at Charleston, SC.

Tom has spent the last year or two getting rid of infections, cavities, and had a need to have corrective back surgery again.

At the time of his autobiographical obituary writing Tom and his wife, Sara tenured a prolonged hospital stay while losing 50 pounds.

Remember to live every day as if it were your last, laugh often, cry if you need to, dance as if no one were watching, make love as often as you can, friends are chosen while families are overrated, they didn't choose you, and remember....."Where ever you go, there you are!"