I am sitting here in our home in Tucson having just read of Tom’s passing. I wanted to reflect on our relationship which may shed some light on his character and the time that we knew him. Tom was a very private person whose smiles were saved for special times. And when he did smile and laugh, he lit up the room with kindness and compassion. We first met when he came into my office for some treatment. He looked around very carefully to see how this young doctor decorated his office and then his gaze fell upon me. I thought, ‘This man has seen a lot of life’ and I liked him immediately. Whether he liked me, was not quickly apparent and as I came to know him I realized he approached life in a very measured and contemplative way. It took a couple of visits before he began to trust these “young hands”. He always paid in cash with a $100 bill probably because it said, “In God We Trust” and although a super patriot, he and I both shared a skeptical trust of government.
On one visit to the office, he complained of injuring his back playing racquetball. That began our lunchtime tradition of racquetball “to the death”. Both of us were highly competitive without admitting it to one another. Although 7 years my senior, he kicked my ass on more than one occasion. I so enjoyed those times.
He loved our family and when we were going to buy our first house in Alpine, Tom made it happen. As many of you know, our practice was small by any measure, particularly financial. My wife loved the house and I vowed to make it happen. Tom came by with us to see the new house and when I said that we were $30,000 short for a down payment, he wrote out a check and said to pay it back when we could. We paid it back in two years to a most generous and loving man. He reflected the kind of man that we were proud to call a friend. This is the Tom Dyke, we will always remember. Rest in peace, dear friend.
The Fridays
Bob and Marti, Aaron, Amanda and Aethan
