Death of Santa Tom

[Pete]

"In honor of Santa who is now in the memories of our minds."

May your roads always be downhill.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun always shine upon your face,
and rains fall soft after you have stopped for the night.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Condolences to the family.

[Daniel Meyer]

Good man. Roomed with him at Cheaha once...will be missed.

My condolences to his family.

[bassman]

Very sad.  Sincere condolences to his family and MANY friends.  Last time we met was 2-3 years ago at the Daytona Speedway during bike week and had a nice little chat about the newest model bikes on display.

[Motor City Lulu Belle]

So very sad to lose those whom are so special.  We will all miss you. RIP, Santa

[da prez]

  Tom was one of the first member my wife met.  She ( Bonnie ) enjoyed her time with him. At another IZ , we gave Santa a gift. Old Style beer. If I knew I would see him , I would make sure we had his Beer. I E-mailed Tom  a little while ago and that was the last time. We were going to meet at the next IZ.
  Santa , there are going to be some lonely reindeer.
   We will miss you. With all our love and prayers. 

                     da prez and Bonnie

[shortleg]

  


When we lose one of the people that we all seem to know and look for
at each get together, we seem to stop and at the next Inzane or ride
and wish they were there
Santa is one of those people that will be missed because of his smile
and his Hi how are you doing.
 I will miss him and know that his pain has stopped.
I pray for his family and may God make the pain not so bad tomorrow
and maybe even less a few days later for them
 He will have a few of our brothers that have cleared way for him.
Good Bi Santa we loved you and will miss you always

[3fan4life]

So very sorry to hear about your loss.

He was a great person that never met a stranger and he will be missed by many here.  








As mentioned this is when he won the 50/50 at the second Hillbilly Highways Ride:



Then he turned right around and donated the money back to the charity:

http://

[JimmyG]

Sorry to hear this. He was a good guy. Enjoyed talking with him.

[Gary]

Sincere condolences, my heart and thoughts go out to you and your family.

[RDAbull]

Tom and I roomed together at the  Morgantown IZ.
As a couple of old Catholic boys we had some deep late night conversations about his condition and what to expect.  Family was his first concern, he came in a distant second.  To the family all I can say is I'm truly sorry and that I can add, very easily that he is in great hands at this point.  Rest well my friend.  
You will be missed.

[G-Man]

A real gentleman, he was.  A real GENTLEman!

Peace, love, and strength from us to you.

[Earl43P]

Oh man, I am so sorry for your loss.

I met Tom at my first VRCC gathering, a Fall Colors Ride, and we shared a room.
That was a common theme with Tom, sharing. I wish we'd spoken more in Morgantown.

Quite a character, he would keep you enthralled in the conversation, wherever it led.
With me, we talked about helicopters and rightfully so.

Hand salute, CWO.
RIP, My Brother of the wind.

[Bigwolf]

I am deeply saddened by this news.  Tom was a good man.  I am thankful for the times I got to talk with him though they were not many or much.  He will be missed by many for sure.  Best wishes and gentle thoughts for his family during this time of loss and grief.

Mural and Jerry

[Dave Ritsema]

That just hurts my heart. 
I always looked forward to catching up with Tom in the lobby of the host hotel at an event and shooting the breeze.
I am so very sorry for your loss. Your Dad was a good, good man and will certainly be missed by all the VRCC members that had the privilege of meeting him.

[..]

He'll be sorely missed.

I can't count the times Tom saw a BBQ at a motel and said whose for hot dogs. He'd go to the store and buy the dogs and buns and condiments and cook for as many wanted to be fed.

He also looked after others at the drop of a hat.

I'm in one of the photos Steamer posted. It's at a motel in Clayton GA . I think of one of the rides I used to organize.

I had been suffering from gout and without a word to me Santa appeared with some black cherries because he'd read that they helped alleviate the symptoms and therefore the pain.

His twinkling eyes and ready smile will be sorely missed by many.

[..]

Memorial Day ride 2011

[rainman]

Sorry to hear the bad news.  Tom (Santa) was a good man when God made him he broke the mold.
This one story i will share caus everytime Tom and I was together we would talk about it.  It was at inzane Mi second year we were there.  A group of us was headed to uper UP we all meet at McDondals to eat.   There was a mother there with here little gril who was being loud and crying not wanting to eat.  Everyone was looking at her and some of guys tryed to talk to her but only made things wrose.  I went over and ask the mother what her little girls name was and she told me.  I ask the little girl if she would like to meat Santa.  I then walk up to Tom told him what was going on and we both walk over the them.  Tom bent over and called her my name and she look at him and said you are Santa.  Tom talked to the girl for about 15 min.  and when he walk away in a soft voice you could hear him say HO HO i will see this christmas in the mean time the girl eat everything on her plate and the mother said thank you.
Tom you will be missed in a big way

[Skinhead]

So sorry for your loss.  Not only is this a horrible loss for Tom's family, is is a huge loss for the VRCC family as well.  AS evidenced by the above posts, he was loved and respected by many here.  I want to thank Tom's family for sharing him with us, he will be missed.  Thank you Tom for your service and for bringing a little joy into to all our lives.  You and Thunper ride on!

[Flask]

  Santa will be missed in a big way
Rode and talked with him on numerous occasions .
Thoughts and Prayers to his family.



Santa - Me & the little guy in Daytona

[flamingobabe #44]

love looking at all the pictures and remembering all the fun stuff....sorry for your loss....Santa will be missed by many.....

[Spurs]

We met Santa Tom at the Inzane in MI years ago, we know he will be missed dearly - RIP & God Bless you and your family.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Memorial Day ride 2011

Picture has both Paul ( Thumper ) and Tom ( Santa ) both took away because of cancer       I pray for a cure and can't help thinking maybe they already have one or if they get one will they let it out with all the billions of dollars they make off it year after year... I don't know who " they " are .

[Super Santa]

So sorry for your loss, and ours too.  He will be missed by all who knew him.

A great one for me to look up to.

Prayers for peace for the family and sweet memories.

[threevalks]

       Jane and I have been on many rides with Tom, he will be greatly missed by us and all of the VRCC. We were surprised at, and told him how much better he looked at the meet in the middle ride than at the WV Inzane.

[Karen]

Sorry for the loss of your father, he made life better for a lot of people, and was loved all over this country. At least his pain is over, and he is riding the big twisties in heaven. Condolences to you and your family on this immense loss.

[Jabba]

Very sad to hear. You have my deepest condolences. Here's a photo of us touring the NASA NBL during GOTF in 2013.



Jabba

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Took this picture in Big South Fork on a ride I had . I ask Tom " what you thinking Santa tradin' in the reindeer for bears ? "   He was a good decent man I'm going to miss him.

[eric in md]

Santa will be missed in a big way
Rode and talked with him on numerous occasions .
Thoughts and Prayers to his family.



Santa - Me & the little guy in Daytona

great pic great people ...
 What a jolly feller ol santa was .  
   To toms family , be proud to have such a great man in your family  so sorry for your loss and ours as nice as tom was he is making many others smile as much as he has done to many of us here.   Rip Santa see ya in december 25 to be exact.  Until next time ..     so sad to hear this

[RainMaker]

Met Tom on the Britman Memorial Ride in 2012.  Here's a few pictures of him - we talked a lot about Santa gigs since I own an entertainment company.







This is my favorite picture I took of Santa


This is where Paul tells us "it's not a race" before the checkered flag drops.

[Crazyhorse]

Missed but remembered.

[Stanley Steamer]

I found another pic of Tom and Mike and Mark and Hal and Britman



Here's the link to the pics of mine from the 2011 Britman Memorial Day Ride based out of Clayton, GA....my hometown....

http://s119.photobucket.com/user/tekman88/library/Clayton%20GA%20Memorial%20Day%20Ride%202011?sort=3&page=1

[..]

I was sitting with Tom in a garage last night.

We both had our front wheels off the bikes.

Both had rags and polish and we were slowly cleaning the rims.

He had a hair brush that he occasionally ran through his beard. Every time he did the beard grew a little bit longer.

Sitting and discussing a ride we would take together up the Blue Ridge Parkway.

His beard was getting longer and his wheel was cleaner than mine.

Sitting talking about our favorite section of the BRP and able to "project" video of each part onto thin air.

His beard was getting longer.

Because we both knew the BRP so well we started showing specific parts on our "air video screen."

Specific parts. One of mine was Ravens Roost. I think one of his was Water Rock Knob.

So we made a date to meet in Cherokee as his beard got longer and his wheel was now chrome shiny.

When I woke up I was so convinced of the forthcoming trip until i thought about it for a minute or so and realized it wasn't going to happen. 

[Wizzard]

Great dream.   We all miss him

[Skinhead]

He was a good'n.

[¿spoom]

A very good man lost, and I'm no wordsmith so I will borrow this-

There is no death! The stars go down,
to rise upon some other shore,
And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown,
They shine for ever more.
John L McCreery