Chuck Gilreath was contacted by Judy Barts several days ago and learned that Tom passed away in September. Chuck included a link to an obituary with a nice recent photo of Tom. Click here to see the obituary.
If you would like to send Judy a note, her email address is Judy.barts@gmail.com.
According to Judy, Tom was ill and under her care for over five years prior to passing away last September.
Tom and Chuck shared many adventures. Here are a few highlighted by Chuck.
Tom joined KSA in the summer of 1976, in the same class as Lynn Spuhler, Mike Baird, Mike Love, Ed Merigan, John Lamb and me. He and I both started in MMD. I think he worked with KRO somewhere in or near Chicago, as he was able to join me in Philadelphia for a long weekend in the summer of 1977. He also worked in western Pennsylvania with Dick Bath. I was also working for Dick in Philadelphia.
Dick asked both of us to go to Manila. Tom got there before me, early in 1978 sometime after John Caldwell. I reached Manila in April 78. During 78 and 79, the KSA team led a large group of client engineers and improved manufacturing operations for Aris Gloves covering over 10,000 employees. [The engagement included the largest single rate sale in the history of KSA.]
I remember very well how Tom worked with Fred Hernandez, the manager of about two thousand workers on two shifts in a large leather glove sewing section in the main plant. Tom persuaded Freddie to walk the entire floor on each shift, grabbing the daily individual efficiency record hanging on a clipboard at the end of every 20 operator stitching table, then going down the line to speak briefly to every girl and encourage her. Productivity tripled and Freddie lost about 40 pounds, but he loved it. And it worked.
Our time in Manila outside the factory was the stuff of legend. Too many experiences and escapades to recount - or even clearly remember! The Elks Lodge, Mabini, the Boat Club, the Hash House Harriers... trips to Hong Kong, China, Australia...
As the project wrapped up, Tom and I left Manila in November, 1978, and traveled with carry-on bags for six weeks across Asia, Africa and Europe, reaching Atlanta just in time for the Christmas party. Highlights of the trip included the canals of Bangkok, Edmund Hillary's old room in Kathmandu, the Taj Mahal, Tut's tomb, the Pyramids, the Acropolis, the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, the casino at Monte Carlo, the Alps, Versailles, Notre Dame, the Tower of London and an unforgettable dinner in our honor at the London Rowing Club.
Tom moved to the Hamilton practice fairly early in the 80's and left KSA prior to 1988 to start a business with his wife Judy training word processing operators. He returned to KSA in the 1990s for a brief stint working in the Logistics group.
The common thread in all the comments I received from those who worked with him was their memories of his joyful personality and cheerful ways. That is certainly how I remember him. I will miss Tom.
Judy, our thoughts and prayers are with you.