[TR] Tom Householder RIP

[Steve Thornton]

Guys-

Like many of you, I have known Tom for a long time. Scotch is an acquired taste. So was Tom. Once your friend, though, he was as loyal as they come.

One funny story about Tom. He was on his way to TRF one year in his RHD Doretti. He was stopped for speeding. His driver’s license was not currently in service. The police officer walked up to the left side of the car ( assuming the is where the driver would be) and asked for license and registration. His traveling companion gave him her license and the car’s registration. She received a warning and they traveled on to TRF. The officer never observed the location of the steering wheel!

That was Tom in a nutshell. Fun, pushing boundaries, loyal and loved everything TR.

There are many more Tom stories, but I will save them for another time.

Godspeed Tom.



Sent from my iPad


Steven O. Thornton
1011 Lehman Avenue
Bowling Green, KY. 42103
270-781-6630


On Apr 26, 2023, at 1:09 PM, Greg Lemon <grglmn at gmail.com> wrote:


I corresponded with Tom quite a bit we were trying to track down a Swallow Doretti that was in my hometown several years ago.  Never got very far looking for the car, but he left no stone unturned in his search.  Sorry to hear of his passing.  RIP.

Greg Lemon
TR250

On Wed, Apr 26, 2023, 5:43 AM Jim Henningsen <trguy75 at gmail.com<mailto:trguy75 at gmail.com>> wrote:
Don,
Thanks for sharing that heartfelt story and pictures.  As a longtime Triumph guy, it means a lot.
Jim Henningsen
Ocala, FL

On Apr 26, 2023, at 12:42 AM, Don Hiscock <don.hiscock at gmail.com<mailto:don.hiscock at gmail.com>> wrote:


For those who haven't heard yet, Tom Householder, great friend to the Triumph and Doretti marques, died on April 15, 2023 after being in failing health for over a year.

Here's his obituary from his hometown newspaper.
https://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/obituaries/mnj256898

Tom was an active poster on this list in years past, and especially valued the FoT community.

Tom described his life around TRs in a profile in the TRA Newsletter from November 2017.  In that article he described going to sea from Jacksonville, looking back at his TR3A and imagining a whole parking lot full of Triumphs.  That image led him a couple of years later to put a handwritten note in the parts department of Ernie Harter's Triumph dealership in Lancaster Ohio asking if anyone wanted to start a car club.  From those seeds the Triumph Register of America grew.

(And, BTW, the front apron from that TR3A , shown here in Florida with Tom's dog Skipper, is on my TR3B now: https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xJnH7xR/0/b1f88787/O/i-xJnH7xR.jpg)

I met Tom 44 years ago when we worked at the same research institute, and the TR3B I have today was through his matchmaking.  His family had a big auction of his TR and Doretti cars, parts, and ephemera in February so some of the rare bits he'd accumulated will remain in the hobby for years to come.

My last visit with my friend was a month or so ago and he stated he was comfortable and at peace.  He missed his wife and best friend Susie, who predeceased him by about two years.  Tom, those of you who knew him will understand, lived his own life by his own and often ornery rules, but he was always there to help friends and always had a (usually off-color) joke to tell.  He thought sometimes he should have been born a hundred years or more earlier when his simple and independent self-reliance would have been more common and maybe more helpful in life -- he was probably not wrong there!

Here are Tom and Susie out to dinner in 2016:
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-BGbHCqN/0/d9e06ac7/XL/i-BGbHCqN-XL.jpg

Rest in peace, Tom.
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