Obituary for Thomas C Wilmot Sr.
Thomas C. Wilmot, Sr , 83, of Nashua, died on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at Southern NH Medical Center in Nashua after a brief illness. He was born on July 15, 1936 in Nashua, son of the late Clarence Sr. and Zelma (Bearse) Wilmot.
He was the beloved husband of Pauline T. (Fredette) Wilmot.
Tom took great pride that he joined the Army and rose to a Corporal as a Paratrooper in the 11th Airborne in 1953. One notable moment during his time as a paratrooper was the time that he jumped out of a plane and was quickly grabbed by one of his fellow paratroopers after their shoot failed open. They both luckily landed safely on the ground. When he left the Army, he had many jobs but settled in as a meticulous house painter. He generously offered up his skills to his family over the years and painted many rooms taking great pride in the work he provided. On his off-time he loved fishing. He didn’t care if it was at the ocean, a stream or any random pond he came across. He also loved the company of his granddaughters, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews when they would tag along with him to fish. His other hobbies that he enjoyed was anything that had to do with war history and playing bingo with wife, Pauline. Tom was well known for his dry wit, great sense of humor, kind heart and was always photo ready with a great pose and smile to match.
Tom was proceeded in death by his brother Clarence “Bill”, brothers in law, Pete and Sam, sisters in-law Nancy and Arlene, sisters Norma and Anna, niece Robyn, nephew Todd, great nephew Ryan and his dearly loved cat Emmit.
Along with his wife of more than 56 years, Pauline, he is survived and dearly loved by his brother, Eugene “Gene”, sister-in-law Mary, brother-in-law Walter, son Tom Jr., daughter Sandra, and their families and his late brother Bill’s family, including many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, grandchildren, a great grandchild and Godchildren.
SERVICES: A memorial visitation will be at Davis Funeral Home, One Lock St in Nashua on Saturday, October 19, 2019 from 9am to 10am, immediately followed by a brief service and military honors at 10am. Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Those who wish may make a memorial contribution in Tom’s name may do so to the Wounded Warriors Project at the following link: Wounded Warriors Project
Thank you, from the Wilmot family.
Eulogy by Tom Wilmot Jr:
My Dad, he was many things to many people. A faithful friend willing to have fun and sometimes get into trouble, an Uncle that always had the time to go fishing or play with kids including all of my cousins and their kids, a brother that just wanted to share some coffee and stories, and a Dad who encouraged his son to live out his dreams.
Although we lived apart for many years, we spoke every week on the phone most of the time for an hour or longer. He always had something to talk about and was interested my career and family. He would ask how Hailey and Kelly were doing? Does Madison still have the same boyfriend? If yes, that's good or if the answer was no "he wasn't meant for her". He asked about my wife Joanna "was she feeling better or does she still like her job?", or the dogs “how is Griz?”, and even how many beers I was having in the hot tub that night. He thought sometimes that I deserved more based on whether I was recently laid off or received a promotion.
Despite thinking we knew everything about my Dad and that he was a nice man with a simple life, he had some surprises in store for us. Most of us discovered Thursday he was married for a couple of months when he was in jump school in the Army. He had also been documenting his life for years. He had typed numerous lists on what I believe was the first electric typewriter he still has in his closet. He listed all of the painting jobs he ever had, all of his cars, he had written outlines of his life including a list of the important events: His birth, joining the army, marriage, divorce, another marriage, a daughter, another divorce, another marriage, a son, and on and on. Some of the lists stopped in the 70's and others continued on into the 2000's.
I am not the first person to write a eulogy about a parent. We have all lost loved ones. Attempting to summarize your feelings towards them, their personality, and stories of their live is impossible. I could talk about trips to the beach, Franklin, or even our long drive to Maryland when we unintentionally went over the same toll bridge 5 or 6 times, countless fishing trips including actually enjoying spending hours untangling his snarled reel knowing the he simply enjoyed the moments of life not focused on the end results. He just wanted to be fishing not counting the fish he caught or hangout in my garage whittling hiking sticks for Joanna, or taking his time painting rooms which I am pretty sure he did for most of us.
I used to joke with him about being retired for 30+ years but now I appreciate the fact that he lived his live exactly as he wanted for that long. Most of us never slow down enough to make that happen but he did. In the end he showed me more about himself than ever before. In his last hour he told the doctors it was time for him to go and then reached up and shook both of their hands to thank them. Then they took off his mask with about 15 of us in the room. It's was a sniffle-fest. Lots of tears were shed. But you could feel all of the love in the room for him. We should all be so lucky to go out that way.
Finally, my Dad told my Uncle Gene over the last year that he felt he had lived a long life and would be ready to go if something happened. While that doesn't make today easier, he would be happy that all of you came today and if he could speak to us, I know he would be rolling his eyes at us or making some type of joke just to see us smile.
He was the beloved husband of Pauline T. (Fredette) Wilmot.
Tom took great pride that he joined the Army and rose to a Corporal as a Paratrooper in the 11th Airborne in 1953. One notable moment during his time as a paratrooper was the time that he jumped out of a plane and was quickly grabbed by one of his fellow paratroopers after their shoot failed open. They both luckily landed safely on the ground. When he left the Army, he had many jobs but settled in as a meticulous house painter. He generously offered up his skills to his family over the years and painted many rooms taking great pride in the work he provided. On his off-time he loved fishing. He didn’t care if it was at the ocean, a stream or any random pond he came across. He also loved the company of his granddaughters, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews when they would tag along with him to fish. His other hobbies that he enjoyed was anything that had to do with war history and playing bingo with wife, Pauline. Tom was well known for his dry wit, great sense of humor, kind heart and was always photo ready with a great pose and smile to match.
Tom was proceeded in death by his brother Clarence “Bill”, brothers in law, Pete and Sam, sisters in-law Nancy and Arlene, sisters Norma and Anna, niece Robyn, nephew Todd, great nephew Ryan and his dearly loved cat Emmit.
Along with his wife of more than 56 years, Pauline, he is survived and dearly loved by his brother, Eugene “Gene”, sister-in-law Mary, brother-in-law Walter, son Tom Jr., daughter Sandra, and their families and his late brother Bill’s family, including many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, grandchildren, a great grandchild and Godchildren.
SERVICES: A memorial visitation will be at Davis Funeral Home, One Lock St in Nashua on Saturday, October 19, 2019 from 9am to 10am, immediately followed by a brief service and military honors at 10am. Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Those who wish may make a memorial contribution in Tom’s name may do so to the Wounded Warriors Project at the following link: Wounded Warriors Project
Thank you, from the Wilmot family.
Eulogy by Tom Wilmot Jr:
My Dad, he was many things to many people. A faithful friend willing to have fun and sometimes get into trouble, an Uncle that always had the time to go fishing or play with kids including all of my cousins and their kids, a brother that just wanted to share some coffee and stories, and a Dad who encouraged his son to live out his dreams.
Although we lived apart for many years, we spoke every week on the phone most of the time for an hour or longer. He always had something to talk about and was interested my career and family. He would ask how Hailey and Kelly were doing? Does Madison still have the same boyfriend? If yes, that's good or if the answer was no "he wasn't meant for her". He asked about my wife Joanna "was she feeling better or does she still like her job?", or the dogs “how is Griz?”, and even how many beers I was having in the hot tub that night. He thought sometimes that I deserved more based on whether I was recently laid off or received a promotion.
Despite thinking we knew everything about my Dad and that he was a nice man with a simple life, he had some surprises in store for us. Most of us discovered Thursday he was married for a couple of months when he was in jump school in the Army. He had also been documenting his life for years. He had typed numerous lists on what I believe was the first electric typewriter he still has in his closet. He listed all of the painting jobs he ever had, all of his cars, he had written outlines of his life including a list of the important events: His birth, joining the army, marriage, divorce, another marriage, a daughter, another divorce, another marriage, a son, and on and on. Some of the lists stopped in the 70's and others continued on into the 2000's.
I am not the first person to write a eulogy about a parent. We have all lost loved ones. Attempting to summarize your feelings towards them, their personality, and stories of their live is impossible. I could talk about trips to the beach, Franklin, or even our long drive to Maryland when we unintentionally went over the same toll bridge 5 or 6 times, countless fishing trips including actually enjoying spending hours untangling his snarled reel knowing the he simply enjoyed the moments of life not focused on the end results. He just wanted to be fishing not counting the fish he caught or hangout in my garage whittling hiking sticks for Joanna, or taking his time painting rooms which I am pretty sure he did for most of us.
I used to joke with him about being retired for 30+ years but now I appreciate the fact that he lived his live exactly as he wanted for that long. Most of us never slow down enough to make that happen but he did. In the end he showed me more about himself than ever before. In his last hour he told the doctors it was time for him to go and then reached up and shook both of their hands to thank them. Then they took off his mask with about 15 of us in the room. It's was a sniffle-fest. Lots of tears were shed. But you could feel all of the love in the room for him. We should all be so lucky to go out that way.
Finally, my Dad told my Uncle Gene over the last year that he felt he had lived a long life and would be ready to go if something happened. While that doesn't make today easier, he would be happy that all of you came today and if he could speak to us, I know he would be rolling his eyes at us or making some type of joke just to see us smile.