Tom Heffernan died September 22, 2010 after experiencing severe chest pains. He was fifty-eight years old.
Tom, a long time resident of Santa Rosa, went to Assumption Elementary School in San Leandro, St. Joseph's High in Alameda, Chabot College and Sonoma State University. He was a brilliant scholar of the earth and her myriad inhabitants. Tom was awed by the vastness of the land, the oceans, and the universe. He cared intimately about the smallest plants, animals and insects. Tom was an avid biker, he read volumes, and loved passionate discussions into the wee hours of the morning. He loved his friends, family and dogs. Not necessarily in that order. Tom was witty. He was ridiculously funny. Tom was intense and deep. He could take a simple, inane task like organizing a monthly phone call system among his siblings and turn it into an insane marathon of hilarious emails that caught us up and had us waiting daily for each new message.
Tom often saw darkness in the future, but gave us hope. We always wanted more of him.
Tom is survived by his three sisters and their families: Lois Heffernan and David Bagnard, Garden Valley, Idaho; Jan and Mike Mannion of Camino, California, their son Kevin, their daughter Kaely, her husband Daniel and their son Finley; Ruth and Bert Pierroz of Sacramento and their sons Blair and Grady. Survived also by Elizabeth Wilson, his partner.
For information regarding the Memorial Service on October 16th go to: tomheffernan.blogspot.com/ (which is here) To RSVP for the memorial, please go here: http://www.pingg.com/rsvp/fkxjyj5cjfj3zp4tn
Donations in Tom's name can be made to:
618 4th Street (#217)
Santa Rosa, California
95404
Or..
Here is the link to the Obit in the Press Democrat.
I was one of Tom's roommates back in 1974.
ReplyDeleteI had just graduated from college in Boston and was new to Northern California. I responded to a bulletin-board posting, and since I was a meditator, too, it seemed like a good fit.
It was a joy to share that old house with Tom for the few months I did. About a year ago, I thought of him out of the blue but made no attempt to get in touch. Guess I didn't think he'd remember me. So sad to Google him today and find only this website. Now I'll never have the chance to hear his voice once more.
The world seems a dimmer place with Tom gone.