Mr. Thomas William Farrell

Born July 15,1935 in Boston, Massachusetts, Tom was the son of Thomas Francis and Genevieve Farrell (Haggerty), and had one brother, John David Farrell, who preceded him in death (1986).

Tom moved to New York City as a young child and grew up in Washington Heights. He studied violin for four years and attended Power Memorial Academy. It was there, under the tutelage of the Christian Brothers of Ireland, that he found academic excellence and a deep love for his Catholic faith.

Tom was a huge baseball fan and dreamed of being a professional shortstop as a child. He would often tell the stories - as if it were yesterday- about his excitement taking the subways and peeking through fences to watch the “Subway Series”. He vividly recounted with joy the day that Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Tom graduated a year early from high school and went to the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, on a full scholarship earning a B.S. Degree in Marine Engineering.

He was Chief Nuclear Test Engineer for the USS POLLOCK, USS HADDO, and USS GUARDFISH nuclear submarines, as well as the nuclear-powered frigate, USS TRUXTUN, while at New York Shipyards in Camden, NJ. From there he moved on to Ohio to be the Corporate Power Manager of Utilities for all US plants for Panacon Corp.

He also worked for Bechtel, Ebasco, and RS&H between Ann Arbor, MI, Atlanta, GA, and Jacksonville, FL, managing planning/construction of oil and coal-fired power plants for Detroit Edison, Savannah Electric, DOE- Morgantown, WV, JEA, a thermal power plant addition for the US Naval Base, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and collaborating on the initial space shuttle launch pads in Cocoa Beach, FL, with NASA. While with Stone & Webster, his projects included managing power additions and conversions for Columbia University, NY Dept. of Sanitation NYC, James River Paper Co., and three waste to energy plants with Ogden Martin Co.

Tom met the love of his life, Brunhilde (Bruni) Langhans, while Chief Naval Nuclear Test Engineer in Camden, NJ, for the US Navy. She had won a lottery in Germany and used those winnings to travel to the United States in 1960, where she started her American adventure, cooking for nine priests at a rectory in Haddonfield, NJ.

Tom called the rectory several times to talk to her, but she hung up on him every time. Not one to give up, the dashing engineer finally met his European beauty by setting up a double date with a buddy who knew her friend, and the rest is history.

They were married on September 23, 1961 in Bad Mergentheim, Germany, and settled in Haddonfield following their honeymoon along the “Romantische Strasse.” They became parents to three girls, all of whom were given piano and dance lessons at a very early age. Bruni “ruled the roost” with her jovial personality and Tom jumped right in, in-between building power plants, supporting the girls in all their activities and watching hundreds of recitals. All three girls went on to earn music degrees, excelling at piano performance.

Tom did provide a fatherly “sporting-balance” by taking his girls to watch the Big Red Machine baseball games when they lived in Cincinnati; and later on, he got everyone off of the piano bench, lobbing and running around on tennis courts. He insisted that his girls could mow the lawn themselves and he bravely taught them all how to drive…using stick shift cars.

He loved to go bowling, enjoyed owning Mercedes Benz diesel sedans, heading to the beach, and attending Kings Point reunions.

Tom’s career as a marine, mechanical, and nuclear engineer ended up taking the family to several cities while the girls were growing up. As their youngest began college, Tom and Bruni started a series of adventures that led them to reside in countries all over the world.

First stop was Andhra Pradesh, India, where he managed the first international, independent power plant to be constructed in India. He then managed the largest diesel-engine power plant project of its type in the world in Madras (Chennai), India, and completed it under budget and two months ahead of schedule!

He continued to move to other large gas turbine, cogeneration, and oil-fired power plant projects all over the Middle East and Margarita Island, Venezuela, ranging from 80-1,350 MW. While in NYC with Bruni, he also managed project development for large plants in Finland and Turkey.

No matter where you live, chances are your light switch works because of Tom Farrell!

They had no trouble making friends everywhere they went because they loved people and had a spirit of adventure: riding camels in Petra, floating in the Dead Sea, driving elephants in Thailand, escaping landslides in Venezuela, and coming face to face with a cobra at their front door in India one morning. He often declared, “Doesn’t bother me, bother me, bother me!”

Tom and Bruni’s roster of addresses included Jordan, Venezuela, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, NYC, Dearborn, MI, and Irvine, CA before retiring to Tampa. While living in Manhattan, Tom relished being back in his old hometown and they both attended many concerts at Lincoln Center.

He loved to sing in the church choir and ’cut the rug’ with Bruni, throw parties, and often attended the symphony and opera. Tom was a true fan of all kinds of music; from Erroll Garner to Bach, Tedeschi Trucks to Beethoven, and The Gypsy Kings to U2. Tom savored it all with his perfect ear and extensive musical knowledge, and saw most of them perform live, in concert.

After 55 years of a loving, exciting, and devoted marriage, Bruni passed. Tom moved to Canterbury Towers and was active in the Men’s Choir, usually singing solos on Sing Along nights and he most recently performed 'White Christmas' at the last Christmas Concert.

Tom was passionate about his devotion to God. He was a faithful member of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel, Board of Trustees Member for four years, and he never missed Mass. He knew all the hymns by heart, sang with gusto, and loved catching up with friends after Mass to share the latest on his 15 grandchildren.

Tom and Bruni had a large stained glass window gifted to the church in 2014 that is by the Baptismal font. It is beautiful. He was instrumental in philanthropy everywhere he and Bruni lived. There are churches and orphanages all over the world with his and Bruni’s imprint. Wherever they went they left their mark of goodness, including building a soup kitchen in the Indian jungle and volunteering in orphanages.

The last 22 years in Tampa were spent doting on the grandchildren. He was especially proud of the next generation’s love of music and the discipline in their musical training. Piano is a must.

Through all the years and travels, Tom and Bruni returned to her hometown of Bad Mergentheim, Germany, as often as possible. Their annual visits were always full of light festivals, Volksfests, and friends. For many years, he was an excellent tennis player and competed locally in mixed-doubles with Bruni, as well as singles. He was also an outstanding racquetball and squash player, a sport he picked up while working internationally.

His most unusual achievement might possibly belong in the Guinness Book of Records: Tom and Bruni are the only parents in the entire country to three Miss America contestants. No other couple has proudly sat through three different years of a week’s worth of nerve-wracking competitions in Atlantic City. (on top of all the local and state pageants, beforehand, to get there!) And, they survived.

Tom was recently over the moon watching his granddaughter, Elizabetta, compete as Miss Ohio in December’s Miss America Pageant and playing classical piano as a Top Ten Finalist! He also attended the last 10 Miss Tampa Scholarship Pageants as an avid supporter of the program.

The family would like to thank Tom’s doctor, Nimesh Panchigar, the staff at TGH and Canterbury Towers, along with Tom’s two companion nurses, Caroline and Toni Agbakwu, for the compassionate and excellent care they gave him during these last few years.

The family is deeply grateful as well to his faithful, selfless priest, Father Emilio Fattore, for tending to his spiritual needs during the last 17 years, especially on February 9, 2023.

He is survived by his three daughters: Mary Ann Farrell-Karlsson of Tampa, Florida, Monica Farrell-Craichy of Orlando, Florida, and Kathleen Nies (Eric) of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also survived by 15 grandchildren: Alexander Karlsson of Stockholm, Sweden, Karolina Karlsson, Kyle Craichy, Austin Craichy, Sarah Craichy, Grace Craichy, Joshua Craichy, Veronica Nies, Elizabeth Nies, Matthew Nies, Sebastian Nies, Michael Nies, Lawrence Nies, William Nies, and Crispin Nies.

The funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 21, 2023

at

Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Chapel

2404 Stuart Street

Tampa, FL 33605

The Rosary will be recited at 9:30AM.

Visitation will take place at 10 AM.

Requiem Funeral Mass will begin at 11 AM, Father Emilio Fattore, celebrant. (No Communion will be given)

A memorial lunch will be served immediately after the Requiem Mass in the adjacent St. Anthony Hall at the church.

Burial will follow the lunch at Myrtle Hill Memorial Park; entrance at Martin Luther King Blvd. and Lake Avenue.

Memorial donations may be made in Tom’s honor to:

Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel

2404 Stuart Street

Tampa, FL 33605

immaculateheartofmarychapel.com