stay under the free trade agreement. It wasn’t without its hoops to jump through – from the requirement of showing diplomas from high school and college to being well-coached by lawyers to stay. In that time, he learned so much about the pros and cons of the U.S. immigration system, which he is still passionate about today. It was in Wyoming where Tom met his current wife, Cyndi. At the time he was offered a job in Milwaukee but wasn’t allowed to work because his visa had expired. It was only a short period before he and Cyndi got married and his permanent residence application was approved. Fast forward a few years when one April night Tom has a vivid dream in which his beloved bandmaster (Dr. William Robert Lorimer) exhorts him to reconnect with his long-lost family. He woke up and knew immediately that he needed to listen to his dream. Through Facebook, he found one of the four daughters and found out that Dr. Lorimer had died only two months prior. That year around Christmastime, he reconnected with his first family. His “ma,” Joyce, told him, “Tommy, I’m so glad you’re back. You were my son before I had a son.” As they sat together, she shared that his mentor had a Tuba Bass Trombone and Trombone. Tradition would have been to give them to the Salvation Army, but Tom felt the need to buy it from them. His mother said they didn’t need to worry about the price, but they would sell it to him under one condition: it must be played. So, after a 50-year hiatus from music and playing the tuba, that February Tom picked up his new tuba and began to learn music in bass clef. He also went back to the Salvation Army and back to church. Through those relationships, he learned of the Milwaukee Festival Brass, an award-winning brass ensemble comprised of volunteer brass and percussion players from all over Southeastern Wisconsin. After relearning the tuba for 6 months, he decided to audition for the group. Much to Tom’s surprise, the band director Mark Taylor disregarded his age and highlighted his zeal as the main reason for bringing Tom into the band. As someone who puts his mind to something and then does it, Tom wanted to perform at a higher level, so he sought lessons. Dr. Brett Keating, a fellow band member and faculty member at Carroll, was integral to Tom finding Carroll’s campus. It was in Shattuck that Tom held lessons with Brett. They spoke long about what brought Tom back to music. When Brett asked Tom, “Why don’t you do a degree?” Tom’s response was “Why don’t I!?” That was four years ago. On May 11, 2024, after many more ups and downs, Tom earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance. If you ask Tom what’s next, he’ll say he won’t stop learning. Tom truly is the epitome of his life mantra: “You don’t stop playing when you get old, you get old when you stop playing. Tom with mentor and friend Dr. Mark A. Taylor, who attended Tom’s recital Tom in 1970s with the Lorimer family Tom at graduation with his wife Cyndi Tom at his recital with Dr. David Spies Tom at graduation with Dr. Jeremiah Cawley Tom at his recital with accompanist Rhonda Kwiecien 7
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