Tom died March 9, 2008. He was a retired professor of forestry at Stephen F. Austin State University. Tom earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Montana and went on to earn his Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of Wisconsin.

He lived abroad in Italy, New Zealand and Australia in his youth, and served as an interim professor for six months in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1991.

Tom jumped out of Missoula for twelve different seasons in a career that spanned a time period from 1957 through 1985. He was a NSA member and active in the Trail Maintenance Program.