Friday, August 11, 2023
First, please accept my condolences for the loss of your father and grandfather.
When Tom worked at the Phillip Alampi Beneficial Insect Lab, I was fortunate to be his supervisor. Tom was a genuinely nice guy and was one of the most even keeled individuals that I have ever met. He was also the most organized person that I ever worked with. Sloppy was not in his worldview. We all learned a lot from Tom and all his coworkers thought highly of him and always enjoyed working with him. He was also an excellent mentor for our summer employees. I remember the long drives with him to North or South Jersey where we would solve all the problems facing the state and country. Of course, no one ever listened to us but we had a lot of fun, even when we had misadventures. Tom was quite calm, even when we got wet numerous years evaluating purple loosestrife beetles at Columbia Lake, or almost got heatstroke there one day (we both got scolded by our wives for that one) and whenever we would encounter a bear or two or more. The only time I ever saw Tom a little flustered was when we were making releases of beneficial insects at the Cape May Zoo. One of the release sites was just outside the lion enclosure, and we had to jump the outer fence to get into the no man’s land before the zoo opened. The lions were behind a large inner fence and could not get to us. I made the first release by myself and the lions were cool, the lioness, named Kimba, acted like a housecat but no big deal. A week later Tom went there on his own to make release of beetles and told me that he felt uncomfortable because the male lion, named Webster, would stalk him while he was there. I was a little skeptical since I did not experience that, but I went with Tom the next week to check things out. I entered the site first and the lions were mellow. As soon as Tom joined me, Webster went into full predator kitty stalking mode: hunched flat to the ground, tail twitching, slowly creeping forward and directing all his concentration on Tom. Webster would follow Tom with his eyes wherever Tom moved. Tom left the site first and Webster relaxed. Hmmm, I guess there was something to that! Tom’s comment after we left was that he felt like filet mignon and that Webster “wanted to do lunch” with him as the intended invitee. We had a good laugh about it but he never had to go back. We had another good laugh at Tom’s retirement luncheon where as a gag, we gave him a card with the picture of a Lion on it, congratulating Tom on his retirement, with a note on the inside of the card inviting him to stop by the Cape May Zoo to “do lunch,” signed Webster. Tom laughed and said “you guys” but he appreciated the joke.
On a more serious note, Tom was the primary field person on the purple loosestrife control project and he released most of the beneficial beetles on that program in NJ. The project resulted in a major reduction in the purple loosestrife population which helped preserve and save wetland ecosystems in NJ. Tom was a big part of the team that did that. That is an enduring legacy for him. Now, whenever I see purple loosestrife, I’ll think of Tom. It was a privilege to know him.
Tom also talked about his family a lot and you could see the love that he had for all of you. He was a fine man.
