RIP Seawolf

[Mr. Widget]

Tom was such a fixture here that when several weeks went by without a post from him, I became worried. I sent him an email that went unanswered, so this evening I tracked down his phone number and gave him a call. His wife answered and told me he passed away on July 30th.

He was only 72 and according to his wife he was not at all ready. He had a lot of life left in him, but unfortunately one night he went to bed and simply never woke up.

I believe his son will be taking care of Tom's rather massive JBL collection. I hope he keeps a few of the best pieces to remember our friend Seawolf by.

I will miss Tom's posts very much, polite or otherwise.


Widget

[RMC]

Thanks Widget for breaking the sad news.

I'm in shock, really. For me its a reminder that the clock keeps turning way too fast. Much too early for him to go. Well, at least not waking up in the morning might be the preferred way to leave vs a long and painful illness.

I too found curious that he had not posted for a while. Few days ago i even checked if he had updated his Avatar pic, and he hadn't... Equipment wise he often had something different to show us, which i tend to like.

I remember well a good laugh we had. He found a pic, one of his specialties i guess, where someone was selling a stereo system, and seller pic showed the receiver on top of a turntable whose soft rubber feet were probably buried in the carpet under... There's quite a gap to fill now that Seawolf left us.

I'll sure miss him, as well as his long array of different and funny Avatar pics.

Yup, i'll remember him many ways, including as a Sea and as a Wolf! Rest in peace Tom.

Richard

[BMWCCA]

So sad to hear. Though we never met, we had a mutual friend and we shared the same passion for both JBL and BMW. We both had white E34 BMW sedans. He preferred the JBL 10-inch 3-ways and I the 12-inch. He loved his 250ti but tossed all the "ugly" black L7 towers he ever had. As caretaker for his wife and friend to many here, he will be missed. Thank you, sir, for your service. We'll miss you.

[Earl K]

Wow, this is certainly a shock to hear.

RIP Seawolf.

Tom was a mainstay of this forum and I've always appreciated his posts as well as following along with all his biking adventures.

Really, I'm just gob-smacked to hear this unexpected news.

So sad, so early, my condolences to his family.

EarlK

[Robh3606]

So sorry to hear. RIP he will be missed.

Rob

[turnitdown]

So sad. I looked forward to his posts and can still, in my mind, see a guy plying the streets on a bike loaded down with his latest finds. Via con Dios.

[srm51555]

This is very sad news, Thank you for posting. Prayers to his wife and family.

Although I didn't know him well, I always enjoyed reading his posts, especially the speaker safari thread. He would bring the coolest things home...a lot times on his bike. He also served his country in a difficult time here in the United States. The statement They just don't build them like they used to would apply.

Thanks,
Scott

[spkrman57]

RIP Seawolf!

[BMWCCA]

Any obituary links perhaps, with suggestions for how best to show our respect?

[grumpy]

Was not ready for this... not that one ever truly is.
Another lost connection. Grateful for the interactions we did have.

[rusty jefferson]

Wow, what a stunner. So sorry to hear this news. 72 seems ridiculously young. Kudos to you Mr. Widget for following your instincts and reaching out to his family. He will be missed here.

[hjames]

OMG - it seemed like he'd just recovered from some fool in a car hitting him last year, and was just starting to log longer miles for this year ...
Not ready to lose another Lansing soul ... not one as prolific as he was!
RIP Tom - we'll surely miss you!

[macaroonie]

A loss indeed , hopefully Speaker Safari and Funny Bicycle Stats will continue in the same way as Zilch's Econowave thread on AK.
Tom you will be missed greatly.

RIP.

[DerekTheGreat]

Wow, this is bad news. I'm a newer member and while I never actually met him I appreciated his comments on my threads and his replies to my posts. He'll be missed.

[Ed Kreamer]

My condolences to his wife and family.

Does anyone know if Tom had any kind underlying illness or condition?

72 is too young.

Ed

[speakerdave]

He thought he was dreaming, then realized he'd come awake. Bon voyage, Mr. AB Seawolf--bon voyage.

[Kay Pirinha]

So sad. R.I.P. Seawolf, and all of my condolences to his family and friends!

Best regards!

[DavidF]

A loss to many, I am sure. He liked to keep things honest and grounded. A worthy member to this group.

Thank you Widget for noticing his absence and reaching out to learn this sad news.

[Ducatista47]

I noticed Widget's post about the box of CDs tonight and now I know too. What communications he and I had on the forums had been fun and friendly for many years now. We were pretty close in age but I agree, he should have been able to live longer than he did.

Of late he streamed instead of playing vinyl, and became quite taken with private listening. Tom was no old fogey standing still in a cultural stasis. He and I bicycled for the same reasons. To ride instead of taking a car, to move the muscles and lungs, to be in the breeze and mostly to feel alive. I had come to realize lately how much we had in common, and that increases my sadness for some reason. I hope his wife will be well cared for. Nothing would have pleased him more.

[Uncle Paul]

So much has happened during my absence from this forum. This is one thread I did not want to see, but am pleased that so many remembered and spoke well of Tom.

I am blessed to have known Tom personally. We worked for several years together in the same IT department. He was one of those people that made everything better just by being there. I learned much from him.

We lost contact when I changed jobs and moved halfway across the country. It was a surprise to get this PM from SEAWOLF97 shortly after moving back to the Portland area and delving into my love of JBL on this web site I ran across doing web searches.

is it XXXXX ?

clues seem to add up to Paul XXXX ? pardon me if I'm wrong

TOM

So we reconnected. I was privileged to get to hear his 250Ti's and Ohm Walsh setups, both powered by a BGW 750-D that had a Disneyland sticker on it. He had an amazing collection of gear since one of his hobbies was flipping thing he found locally and would continuously replace old gear with new if the new was better.

Tom was a gracious man and a kind soul. You have never met a more gracious host or someone who could hold a conversation on any subject. I was hoping to reconnect yet again when I saw the RIP on his profile.

All the kind comments are no surprise. It's a reminder that life is short and to not take it for granted.

I miss you my friend,

[RMC]

The second anniversary of his death will be soon july 30th and i haven't forgotten about him, RIP.

[DerekTheGreat]

Yeah, its surreal to think he's been gone two years.