April 17, 1964 - September 11, 2001
We little knew that morning,
God was going to call your name;
In life we loved you dearly,
In death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you,
You did not go alone;
For part of us went with you,
The day God called you home.
You left us beautiful memories.
Your love is still our guide;
And though we cannot see you,
You are always by our side.
Our family chain is broken,
And nothing seems the same;
But as God calls us one by one,
The chain will link again.
He graduated from St. Nicholas of Tolentine HS in the Bronx where he was a basketball star. On June 16, 1984 he married Kerri Ann Cregan, his high school sweetheart.
Tommy began his Wall Street career at RMJ Securities. He worked his way up to broker and won the respect of the people who worked with him. His ready smile and easy going and friendly nature made him well liked by people who met him.
Tommy was everybody's friend. In Monroe his athletic ability and his easy way with kids made him a popular basketball coach. He coached for PTA, CYO and AAU.
Tommy will be deeply missed by his family, to whom he will always be a much loved husband, father, son, uncle and little brother. He is survived by his wife Kerri, his children Heather, 16 years, Thomas, 14 years, and Brittany, 10 years. He is also survived by his mother, Mae Dowd of the Bronx, and sisters and brothers-in-law;
Dorothy and Kevin Walker of the Bronx, Mary and Jim Smyth of Cornwall, Diane and Tony DeCarlo of New City, and Joan Dowd of NYC;
his brothers and sisters-in-law, Raymond and Becky Dowd of Lindenhurst, and Gerard and Cathy Dowd of the Bronx, his mother and father-in-law of Palm Harbor, FL and 19 nieces and nephews, and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws.
Friday evening, April 17, 1964, we were all anxiously waiting to hear if we had a boy or a girl. The boys, Raymond and Gerard were happy to have another join their ranks. The girls, Dorothy, MaryLou, Diane and Joan were just happy to have a new baby to coddle. Even our parents seemed to feel this surprise baby was more about joy then any added burden in their already large family.
From the beginning Tommy lived up to that moment. He continued to bring us joy throughout his life. We believed he was the most adorable boy ever. We spoiled him with love and affection and he accepted it gracefully. We could never tell if he was naturally wonderful or if all that love made him that way. (Maybe it was a combination).
Our neighbors referred to him as the Mayor of Inwood and indeed he made friends wherever he went. He would introduce himself and our mother saying, "Hi, I'm Tom and this is Mae." Tommy was truly the light of all of our lives.
We feel that Tommy will live in our hearts forever. Our children have grown up hearing "Tommy stories". They will in turn tell their children these stories about how much their parents and aunts and uncles loved their little brother. He will live on in our family story.
It is somewhat comforting that Raymond managed to contact him on that terrible day and Tommy was once again connected to the love of his family. We cherish having Kerri, Heather, Thomas and Brittany as part of Tommy with us still. We pray that he is at peace in God's loving care.