Harry Clark
My Brother Tom
I want to thank Jim for his eloquent obituary for Tom. I thought that relating some family stories about Tom would explain something about his personality.
Jim mentioned Tom’s presence in social gatherings in bars and I would like to expand on this. After work or late in the afternoon, Tom would go bar hopping in two or three bars.I accompanied him once to meet his friends. When he walked into the bar, it was like a scene from Cheers, where everyone knew your name. Most of the conversation was about fishing, weather, and really funny, friendly insults to each other. Tom was always the master of small talk, and kept the tempo going. After 20 minutes and one bottle of Natural Lite, we left for the next bar where the welcome was the same. These small neighborhood bars are a slice of Americana, which matched Tom’s personality.
Our family knows that fishing was one of Tom’s passions and he was an expert at it. As much as he loved a day out in his boat filling up a stringer, he did not like to eat fish. When he returned home after his Army discharged, June, Tom and I went fishing in one of the many lakes in Northern Illinois. June would cook her famous beer battered fish and always had a large steak in the cooler for Tom.
These memories are ingrained in my mind, they are fond thoughts that I will have forever. Our lives are richer for his presence among all of us.
Harry Clark