Online obituary

Tom was my Uncle. If asked to name the most colorful person I know, Uncle Tom would have won hands down. I don't know Tom's whole life story because there were things he never wanted to talk about. My first memories of Tom go back to when I was only ten or so. He was in the Navy then and cut quite a dashing figure in his uniform. I think the ladies thought so too. Tom was a survivor of the Battan Death March and I believe 2 to 3 years in prison camps. First in the Philippines and then at Mockren Manchuria. After that I don't think he ever ate rice again. Tom loved life and never stopped exploring new things. From exercise, to health foods, to fishing, to cars, to dogs, everything was of interest to Tom. He would always greet me with a "Hi Mate, how about a cup" and the coffee would come out. My memories are of a great guy you could talk to any time about almost any thing. His only weakness seemed to be a rather small tolerance for non-sense. I think his war time experiances made him unwilling to waste time. Today they might say he had "PTSD" but I think that could be said of many vetrans of that war. Like many of that generation he just got on with the rest of his life the best he could. In spite of our age difference I sometimes forgot he was my Uncle and just thought of him as my friend. Truth be told I'd trade most of the folks I know to get him back.