Thomas Allen Valz

Thomas Allen Valz, 65, of Port Richey Florida, and formerly of Oakland, Maine, passed away at a local hospital on Monday, September 16th.

Tom was born to a loving mother and hard-working father, Maxine and Herman Valz, in Montpelier, Vermont. He was the youngest of their 7 children. Tom attended local schools and graduated from Montpelier High School, where he enjoyed playing sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. Later in life, Tom attended the University of Maine at Augusta, where he earned an associates degree in Sociology. He was proud of this achievement as he believed an education was important.

In Tom's early working years, he worked for his uncle and cousin, who operated food concessions at fairs. During this period in his life, he got to spend a great deal of time with his cousin and best friend, Larry (and Caren) Chesley of Florida and New Hampshire. He loved to tell stories of their hijinks as teens. Memorable ones involved crashing a certain sister's car, jumping off a dam, and one particularly spicy pizza. Tom also worked at Waterville Valley Ski Resort in New Hampshire, Weathervane Seafoods in Waterville, Maine, and then became a driver for UPS. He retired from UPS after 25 plus years of service.

At age 23, while working at fairs, Tom met the person he would spend the rest of his life with, Renee (Baker) Valz. They were married over 41 years, through better and worse, in sickness and in health, eventually learning the true meaning of loving and cherishing. Children were welcomed right from the start, including Ryan, then Caitlin, both of Florida, and next Matthew of Arizona. Thinking their family was complete, life carried on, working, going on family camping trips with his brother-in-law Bob, woodworking (something he wished he could have done more of), cheering on the Red Sox and Patriots, and of course, attending the children's activities. Eventually, he and Renee decided to become foster parents. It wasn't long before they added Abigail Valz (fiance Michael Pebble) of Florida and Hannah Valz (fiance Todd Brown) of Maine to their family. There were other foster children who were given love and security while they lived with the family, one of special mention being Felicia. Even once they decided to stop doing foster care, their home welcomed several young people who needed some mentoring during their transition to adult life. Tom will be lovingly remembered by some of his children's closest friends. Matt's best friend, DJ Rancourt (and Danielle) of Arizona is considered family, a bonus son.

Tom is predeceased by his parents, a sister, Nancy Grandbois and her husband Denny, two brothers Douglas and Peter, a sister-in-law, Janet, his mother-in-law, Helen Harvey, a niece Susan Valz, and great niece Lena Simko.

Tom is survived by his wife and his children, his sister Brenda (and Robert) Snetsinger of Vermont, brothers Joseph Valz of Florida, and James (and Eileen) Valz of New Hampshire, as well as sister-in-laws Anita Baker of Maine and Danita (and James) Turner of Massachusetts, and brother-in-law Robert Baker also of Massachusetts, in addition to many nieces and nephews, and dear friends including Lisa and Tim Hassam of Florida.

Tom loved dogs and over time, learned that cats were pretty amazing too. He will be missed by several felines but especially our cat, India, who chose him as her person. He will be also be longed for by our dog, Finnigan, who came home with us from the rescue, after Tom stated "I feel like he needs us."

At this time, due to Hurricane Helene, no specific memorial has been planned. Please reach out to family online, or by mail, and share stories, memories, and pictures of Tom with family members as they are all enjoying reading and seeing them. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Tom's memory to your local animal shelter.

The world has lost one of the good ones.