Thomas H King
September 2, 1934 – April 9, 2009
In the early morning of April 9th I caught a flight in hopes of helping
my father move out of the hospital and back home; that desire was not realized. There’s
never a good time for anyone to die but maybe possibly Thursday April 9th was a good day for my father. It was opening week of baseball season and his Yankees won their first game, it was opening day of the
Masters Golf Tournament, and it was Holy Thursday and Easter Weekend.
While my father’s passing really hurts, it also makes me realize how lucky
I was. Tom was a great teacher. He
taught us the importance of a good education. He taught us the value and benefit
of hard work. He taught us every sport under the sun, but I thank him for not
pushing wrestling on me. He let me cut the grass, rake leaves, shovel snow, chop
wood, and fix everything around the house because as he said “it built character”; he also liked to say it got
me “three squares a day and a roof over my head”. Without that
“character” I would not be where I am today.
Shortly after I went away to college Tom bought a riding mower and snow thrower
attachment, when I asked him what was wrong with the push mower and shovel he replied that he “had all the character
he needs”. That was very true.
My father helped me learn that if I did not put anything into the project I should
not expect to get anything out. He taught me to work hard and to appreciate my
victories (like being the only son to ever win the father son golf tournament), and learn from my losses (which if I listed
would go on for weeks). He taught me there are no short cuts in life. He let me learn on my own, he let me make mistakes and learn the hard way and I thank him for that.
He taught me to be honest and that even if it hurt, honesty was better than the
end result of not being honest. My father taught me that there’s a time
to speak up and a time to bite my tongue. One of the best attributes my father
taught me was to forgive others; he helped me realize we all make mistakes every day (especially me). He helped me realize that if we do not forgive our friends for their mistakes we will have no friends and
that if we do not forgive our family for their mistakes we will end up with no family.
My father’s teachings helped me find the lord. Tom was the best man I’ve ever known. I will always
love you Dad.
