James Thomas Hamilton

This is not an obituary, but a small snippet in the life of the husband, father, G-Dad, brother, and uncle James Thomas Hamilton. Thom forever remains the loving husband of 51 years to Rita Marie. His bride to be was a fiery redhead that he happened upon while attending school at Brescia College. As marriage begins so does family. His three sons, John Andrew, James Douglas and Jeffrey Scott, all absorbed his wry sense of humor. Clearly his gift of gab multiplied exponentially as these boys grew in to men. But his wisdom didn’t stop there. He instilled in his sons an awesome sense of empowerment and determination. Often he said “You either find a way or you make one” and that was all the catalyst needed for them to move forward and start new adventures and families of their own.

If being loving husband and father wasn’t enough, Thom was “G-Dad” (because granddad or Grandpa sounded old and didn’t fit his personality) to Jade Marie and Jessica Rose, whom he would spoil on every visit because that is what G-Dad’s are suppose to do.

Thom was the quintessential Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None. Head of household in not just one hat, chauffeur, chef, cat/bird/dog wrangler, lawyer, judge, jury, teacher, coach the list is endless. “Go ask your father!” is today’s equivalent of “Google it!” Parenting, being a full time position, left him with a few simple pleasures with what few hours he had. Thom was avid golfer who would hit the links if the weather was right and sometimes when it wasn’t. As the saying goes “Golf, a wonderful walk in the woods, spoiled by a little white ball”, but it was his peace and quiet 72 strokes at a time. If the days truly didn’t warrant a leisurely 18 holes, then he turned to woodworking. This was a passion that was passed to him by his father and a long linage of wood smiths before his father. All three sons are ordained Wood Butchers, so the line is not broken. We all assumed that Thom had something against nature, since all he did was tear up grass on the golf course and mutilate pieces of wood for a project that either workout out wonderfully or became another piece to a future project.

Some things are best left unsaid but others must be passed on…the fact that we had to find the lawn guy to tell him that Thom passed away was hard but the hardest was letting the cashier at the local beer depot know that he would not be purchasing his Old Milwaukee anymore, she had deep sorrow in her eyes and immediately sold her stock in the brand before news really went out. She saved a fortune!

The life and family he left behind will always have a small sliver missing. No words, glue or mulligan can make up for him not being with us, but his laughter, stories, boundless. Generosity and love will never fade. Thom would tell you that he was sorry for the quick exit but a call came in that his foursome was ready and the tee time set. So we say farewell Thom, we know that you will finally hit that hole in one up there and if it ever hails here we will know that you hit out of bounds AGAIN!