Born in Tennessee on 26 July, 1933, Tom was all but a native of Reno, having moved here when he was a small boy.

After high school graduation, Tom served in the military during the Korean Conflict. Returning to Reno after discharge, he attended and graduated from the University of Nevada, and became a high school teacher of government and history.

It was while teaching high school that he became interested in flying, took lessons and obtained his private pilot’s license. Another career change was in the wind, and Tom joined the Reno Police Department, where he served for 10 years. Supplementing his work for the police department by studying for and obtaining his insurance agent’s license, Tom was soon persuaded to work in the insurance field full-time.

Tom was an initial member of Club de los Mondongueros Reno, and the acceptance by Dictator Clarence Crawford of the original charter and first meeting of the initial members in September 1984 were conducted at Tom’s home in Hidden Valley. In 1992, our original Dictator and first original member Clarence Crawford became ill, and asked Tom to assume the duties as our Second Dictator.

After retirement from the insurance business, Tom returned to part-time teaching as a substitute teacher with the Reno school system, and continued his duties as Dictator. In 2007, working to recover from cancer made it difficult for Tom to work as our Dictator, and he designated Gary Edwards as our Third Dictator.

Tom successfully beat lymphoma twice, but over his last decade, his health progressively deteriorated. He continued to serve as Dictator Emeritus until his death on 14 December 2017 at the VA Hospital Hospice Unit in Reno.

As our Second Dictator, Tom was dedicated to the continuation of Mondongueros as most of the original members passed. It was his tireless efforts that set the stage for its continued expansion under the succeeding Dictatorship of Gary Edwards.