Thomas S. Lister

1934 - 2023

Thomas S. Lister
November 7, 1934 - July 1, 2023
Thomas S. Lister was born on November 7, 1934, to Frank P. Lister and Ruth Livingston Lister in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A resident of Piedmont, he passed away on July 1, 2023.
The family moved to Grosse Pointe, Michigan when Tom's father was transferred to Detroit by the Santa Fe Railroad. He grew up swimming in Lake St. Clair, playing the bass fiddle, playing football and baseball, and running track. Favorite early memories included trips to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl when his father arranged transportation there for the Michigan football teams.
In 1951 he returned to California with a group of high school classmates led by a teacher, visiting Mount Rushmore, Banff and Lake Louise, the Calgary Stampede and Glacier, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks and other spots, eventually arriving in San Francisco, never knowing he would one day live in California.
Tom received his first driver's license at age 14, allowing him to drive his mother and grandmother to ladies' luncheons and other social events. His father refused Tom's request to use his lawn mowing earnings for the purchase of a Ford pickup truck, urging him instead to focus on his studies. He did, and was one of the speakers at his high school graduation. His dream of owning a truck was finally realized in the 1990's with the purchase of a black Chevrolet pickup. Always interested in helping others, Tom became known as Sherpa Tom, and his truck became the Urban Yak.
Tom spent vacation time in Michigan "turning nuts and bolts" on new cars at the Chrysler plant, and working as a "lumper" on a beer delivery truck. At the time, he was not of legal drinking age so the truck's driver was only too happy to collect Tom's share of the daily allotment of "suds".
Following high school graduation, Tom attended Princeton University, where he studied history and economics. His senior thesis focused on the Moravian community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Subsequent to a football injury, Tom became involved with sports management at Princeton. He also served as Treasurer of Campus Club. In that role his duties included checking the clubhouse after parties to be sure all the female guests had returned to their weekend lodgings. Imagine his surprise when he discovered one young couple entwined in the club's dumbwaiter for the night.
Another part of his Princeton experience was working with other classmates to help his Classics professor repair a storm-damaged summer home in Maine-many aches and pains from rebuilding a stone wall, and the consumption of a lot of boiled lobster, too.
Tom returned to Chrysler following his Princeton graduation, planning to become a labor relations lawyer, until he observed union employees dancing on a mahogany conference room table in their hobnailed boots. Working in Chrysler's Guided Missile Division, he obtained military draft deferments for many of their engineers, when the draft board informed him that he was next on their list. He opted to join the Navy and went off to Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island.
Service in the Navy brought Tom, once again, to California, where he was assigned as a young lieutenant to the Pacific fleet, operating out of San Diego. He recalled time spent on "Formosa Patrol" monitoring aircraft carrier movements, and launching rockets off Waikiki Beach in celebration of the statehood of Hawaii.
Tom married Jeanie Hoyne, a Vassar graduate from Illinois, in 1957. Following their divorce, he married Ann Brockhoff Lewis, who he met while going to watch Fourth of July fireworks from the roof of the apartment building where both resided.
Subsequent to his Naval service Tom enrolled in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, where he earned a Master's degree in Business Administration. This led to a lengthy career with Chevron, including work in the marketing and accounting functions and many years as Chevron's Risk and Insurance Manager with worldwide responsibilities. He traveled extensively, including many trips to Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean. He represented Chevron as a board member of Oil Insurance Limited in Bermuda, was active in the financing of Kentucky Agricultural Energy Company, and in the merger of Chevron and Gulf Oil, and later served as an Assistant Treasurer.
Tom led a very active life following his retirement from Chevron in 1990. He was a strong believer in being of service to his family, friends, church and community ... always with a wonderful smile. He served as President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Chevron Retirees and of the Stanford Business School Alumni of the East Bay and on several Alumni Consulting Team projects. He was a Board member of the Camron-Stanford House and the Bellevue Club Foundation. He was a jovial Santa Claus for the children of friends and those of city employees and others in the community. For the City of Piedmont, he served on municipal tax review committees, the Park Commission, and as a Retired Senior Volunteer for the Police Department for nearly thirty years.
At Piedmont Community Church Tom was a Deacon, leading to the formation of the Loaves and Fishes cooking guild, which has provided food for hundreds of church meals and receptions for over three decades. He worked tirelessly on the church's Habitat for Humanity project, and later on other church projects, taught Sunday school for a time, and was proud to be a participant in the Men's Bible Study group.
Tom and Ann enjoyed frequent travel, with at least annual visits to Carmel and Palm Desert. There were cruises on the Mediterranean, on the Mississippi, to Alaska and through the Panama Canal. There were also wonderful trips with former classmates to Charleston, South Carolina, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and St. Petersburg, Russia.
Tom is survived by his loving and beloved wife, Ann Lister; son Thomas Lister and wife Amanda of New York, grandchildren Davis Lister and Anna Lister of New York; daughter Karen van Zee and husband Pieter van Zee of Corvallis, Oregon, grandchildren Erynne van Zee of Seattle, Washington, and Maarten van Zee of Eugene, Oregon; step-daughter Susan Lewis Swift and husband Joel Swift of Auburn, California, and grandchildren Zachary and Dylan Swift. He is also survived by his sister Cynthia Lister Krause of Hilliard, Ohio; nephew Bentley Andrew Krause and wife Joann of Athens, Ohio; niece Emily Krause Corzine and husband Jeffrey Corzine of Dublin, Ohio, and great-niece Camryn Corzine.
A memorial service for Tom will be held on Saturday, September 23, at 2:00 p.m. at Piedmont Community Church, 400 Highland Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Piedmont Community Church, the Salvation Army, or the George Mark Children's House.