Tom passed the finish line of his final marathon – and died peacefully at the age of 88, on May 13, 2023. As he often mentioned, he would never have made it this far without the love, support, and dedicated care of his wife of 65 years, Betty.
He is survived by his wife Betty, his daughter Mary (Michael), son Andrew (Chris), and grandchildren, Robert, Alison, Evan, Foster, Daniel and Claire, and cat, Keiko (although, as he would often mention, he’d wanted a dog!)

Although Tom was born in Calgary, he spent most of his childhood in Cumberland on Vancouver Island, where his father worked as a fire boss in the local coal mine. During the Second World War, his father enlisted, and they lived for several years on the Esquimalt naval base. He remembers those years as some of his happiest, and he appreciated being able to live in Victoria again at the end of his life. His mother thought, as he was going to be short in stature, he’d better learn to fight – and he learned “the manly art” of boxing at the YMCA Victoria and was awarded the “most promising boxer” in 1947 at the age of 12. He gave up boxing for basketball and was a proud member of the Cumberland High School basketball team, although he would say, as there were so few boys in high school, they had to take everyone!

He went on to UBC to study geological engineering, where he met the love of his life, Betty, at an Engineers/Nurses mixer. While he did work several years as an exploration engineer for the oil industry, the nature of the work meant too many weeks away from home, so he returned to UBC and received his certificate to teach. Tom and Betty moved to Coquitlam, where they raised Mary and Andrew, and Tom taught high school mathematics. Just prior to retirement, he enjoyed a one-year teaching exchange in Cockermouth (a small town in Northwest England).

He and Betty loved spending time at their summer home at Shuswap Lake. They travelled extensively and liked to cruise – and bringing the family along with them for a celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary was a highlight.

Tom’s passion was jogging – and it wasn’t long before he ran his first of over 20 marathons. His favourite was Honolulu’s – as they started early in the morning (before the heat) with fireworks. He loved to read – and was a regular at the local library.

Although dementia had taken its toll, his final weeks were spent enjoying the NBA finals, holding hands with Betty, and enjoying a cookie snuck in by his daughter. Tom requested no service or celebration of life but feel free to go for a jog, enjoy reading a book or eat a sweet treat in his memory.

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