I went to the prom with Tommy and he was a very sweet, polite gentleman. We had a good friendship and some good talks. I knew he really liked Vernice and my heart went out to him. I was shocked and saddened to hear of his accident when he was in college at San Luis Obispo. He was a great guy!
Tommy and Larry Waldrop and I went off to college together, to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. We spent our first two years totally screwing off - Larry and I barely kept ourselves in school, traveling to Mexico and getting into a lot of trouble. Tommy was a bit more serious. We all had hot rods. I had a 1960 Ford Starliner that I spent every penny on with a bit 352 cu in V-8 and headman headers (you'd have to have been a 1960s car buff to know what that means!). Larry had a brand new Ford something-or-other with a gigantic engine. But Tommy had the best car - an old mid-50s Chevy beater with a brand new bored-and-stroked, blown hot rod engine (also need to have been a car buff to understand what that means). The car was so hot that the front wheels actually lifted off the ground when he floored it. The exterior was all beat up, so he loved to race the other kids who thought his car was just a dog. He died on the interstate, trying to see how fast it could go. My guess is he rolled it at about 140 mph.
Bonnie Benson (Concialdi)
I went to the prom with Tommy and he was a very sweet, polite gentleman. We had a good friendship and some good talks. I knew he really liked Vernice and my heart went out to him. I was shocked and saddened to hear of his accident when he was in college at San Luis Obispo. He was a great guy!
Rick Brusca
Tommy and Larry Waldrop and I went off to college together, to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. We spent our first two years totally screwing off - Larry and I barely kept ourselves in school, traveling to Mexico and getting into a lot of trouble. Tommy was a bit more serious. We all had hot rods. I had a 1960 Ford Starliner that I spent every penny on with a bit 352 cu in V-8 and headman headers (you'd have to have been a 1960s car buff to know what that means!). Larry had a brand new Ford something-or-other with a gigantic engine. But Tommy had the best car - an old mid-50s Chevy beater with a brand new bored-and-stroked, blown hot rod engine (also need to have been a car buff to understand what that means). The car was so hot that the front wheels actually lifted off the ground when he floored it. The exterior was all beat up, so he loved to race the other kids who thought his car was just a dog. He died on the interstate, trying to see how fast it could go. My guess is he rolled it at about 140 mph.