David Hughes
Tom and I quickly became best friends at the real estate brokerage where he pursued his 2nd career, the same company with which my dad and I merged our company in the late ‘80s. Being new to the company, I needed help learning the various systems and operations there. I would ask Tom, and he was eager to help in every way that he could. His assistance was always accompanied by a big smile and an encouraging word, and then he took off to handle his next task at a gate so fast that I rarely even tried to catch up with him. He often headed to the local office of the American Red Cross to donate blood, or to help high school students in the Key Clubs he started through his Kiwanis Club. I recently found out from the Red Cross that Tom donated blood or platelets 451 times, which likely saved the lives of well over 1,000 people. Tom loved the Lord with all of his heart, and he had a great love for people. After he retired from real estate sales we’ll into his 80’s he and Mary Lou moved to Montereau. It was amazing to me their dedication to each other after all those years. Tom and Mary Lou were married exactly six months before I was born, then she preceded him in death several years ago.
I went to visit with Tom when I could, and when I arrived I got a handshake that squeezed most of the blood out of my right hand. As I stood there trying to massage the restart of blood flow in that hand Tom would smile, give me a sheepish grin, and say, “Milking cows when I was young!” to explain away his supernatural strength. With his Holy Bible on the ottoman in front of his favorite chair, Tom would often get very somber. With his sharp mind he took me back in time over 70 years to the days in WWII he spent fighting from the foxholes of the Philippines, and with tears in his eyes he spoke of his buddies who never made it home from there. On several occasions I made sure to say these words to him, “Tom, if my two sons ever grow to be anything close to the man you are I will consider my life a success.” That is the highest compliment I can give a man, and I’ll miss Tom until we are reunited in Heaven.
