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3 Entries
James Johnson
November 2, 2024
Tom was a great friend for many years and I will miss him dearly. I first met Tom at AT&T Bell Labs through the sailing club in the late 1980's. We sailed together on my father's sail boat and 2 other boats I purchased in the 1990s and 2000.
Tom helped deliver the boat 330 miles from Mackinac Island back to Chicago on Lake Michigan after many Chicago to Mackinac Island races. The sail boats ranged in length from 38 to 43 feet over the years. Tom's first return trip in the 1990s from Mackinac Island started around 9pm in the evening. Around midnight, Tom was at the helm steering the boat while the boat was under power (no sails). I told Tom to watch out for large oar and cargo ships ... which can come out of no where, especially from behind, and could crash into the sail boat without the cargo ship ever knowing it. I saw Tom's eyes grow larger as I explained the situation. With all the confidence in Tom, I passed out in the cockpit, near to Tom, for 20 minutes or so from exhaustion from racing 2 to 3 days continuously on the Mac race. When I woke up, Tom was still at the wheel, eyes just as wide as ever.
Over a period of a week, we visited many ports of call on Lake Michigan as part of the Mac deliveries. The first port was Frankfort. Tom would drink "near beer" (no alcohol) on the boat and when we docked at Frankfort we had dinner at the local restaurant. This is where Tom ordered 2 large mugs of beer at the same time and told me "Beer is Food".
We eventually crossed over from the East side of Lake Michigan to the West side to a port 30 nautical miles or so north of Milwaukee, WI. Can't remember the name of the port, but Tom found a German Restaurant there and we had German beer ... and food. We eventually motored the boat back to Milwaukee WI, down to Waukegan, IL and then finally ended up in Chicago, IL where the boat was moored at during the summer.
During the summers, Tom would be with us on the boat during the Chicago Air and Water show. We were 3 to 4 nautical mile off shore just north of navy pier in Chicago, IL. One time, the jets seemed to use our boat as the turning point to make their runs. We could feel the jets afterburners engage.
When I raced in the Farr40 One Design fleet, Tom sailed with me at the Milwaukee buoy race as a crewman of distinction. The Chicago Farr40 Fleet, which I was the Treasurer of, allowed us to have an additional member which would not count as part of the total weight of the crew. This position designated for dear friends to experience what it was like to race on a Farr40 One Design Sail boat. Tom would sit behind me and shift side to side with me as the boat tacked and jibed.
Tom would take us to a German restaurant in Chicago and Milwaukee for Octoberfest throughout the years.
Tom was with us for many celebrations at the Columbia and Chicago Yacht clubs, the fall end of the year racing ball and parties at his and our house. We went racing on Wednesday Night beer can races, watched the fireworks and drank beer. Tom would eventually run Columbia's race committee for many years with great distinction. Columbia YC recognized his contribution by awarding Tom with a Columbia Club membership over the years.
Tom would play sheepshead with his friends at his house. He invited me once, but I could not figure out the card game and just watched and drank beer as they played.
At AT&T Bell Labs/Lucent, Tom served with great distinction as Systems Engineer in Research and Development (Bell Labs). He wrote specifications for design to follow. He attended technical seminars at world wide standards meetings. Tom would inform AT&T R&D of any changes that would affect current and future Telecommunications hardware and software designs. I remember one time Tom visited a city on the French Riviera (in France) where a standards meeting was held.
Tom traveled a lot. One time to New Zealand with Linda.
Since Tom and I had the same birthday (October 9), we would celebrate the occasion together. Many times, this happened at Tom home in Yorkville during his "fall festival".
We both "retired" at the same time. Tom had a consulting job writing System Engineering specifications for a company for a couple of years.
In 2003, my wife and I moved to Florida. Tom and Linda visited us. Over the years I would call Tom on his birthday and major holidays to see how he was doing. In 2023, I asked Tom how his health was, and he said it was fine. Tom exercised regularly and was very active. I tried to called Tom 3 times this year for his birthday, but could not reach him. I then googled his name and location and found out about his passing. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me ... and still feel way.
Tom was a great friend and I'll always remember him as a great friend.
Rest in Peace Tom.
James Johnson
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Maryann Cushing
October 2, 2024
I met Tom at Columbia Yacht Club when I first volunteered for the Race Committee around 2010. He took me under his wing to teach me everything he knew about race committee so that I could eventually become a Principal Race Officer like him. I served as his co-chair until about 2 years ago. Many fond memories.
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