It was a shock when I was flipping through Tuesday’s Free Press looking for the comics and the crossword puzzle and stumbled over a photo of someone I knew who was in his 40s on the obit page.
In the last couple of years Tom Belrose worked with VPIRG, the Vermont Democratic Party, and Vermont Freedom to Marry. I met him when he became the VDP field organizer for Franklin County and worked with him often over the election season from August to November last year. I pointed him at Vermont Freedom to Marry when he was looking for a job last spring, and he became the Franklin-Lamoille Field Organizer working to get marriage equality through the legislature and enough support for representatives to vote to override the governor’s veto. He was a persistent and dogged worker, nearly always cheerful, always trying to help.
The car accident in which he died was a head-on collision on narrow two-lane road near the Montgomery-Belvidere town lines, and Tom was pronounced dead at the scene (he drove an old Jetta, I think, pre-airbag). The other driver is still in the hospital, with ‘non-life-threatening injuries.’
He bought me a beer a couple of weeks ago at our Franklin County “First Friday” liberal bar gathering, which is the last time I saw him. When I last talked to him on the phone, he was worrying about whether Franklin County employers were not calling him back because of the Freedom to Marry work on his resume – which, as a straight man, he did because he believed in social justice for everyone.
He also smoked like a chimney, greeted nearly everyone with “How we doin’ today?”, was perpetually running behind schedule, and was wont to make erroneous declarations of ‘fact’ on some subjects, although if presented with actual facts would admit he might not know as much as he thought he did.
And he was a good guy with a good heart and a dedication to spending what turned out to be 44 years making this corner of the world a better place to live in.
His wake and funeral are Friday Sept. 25 in Swanton at the Kidder Funeral Home, with visiting hours starting at 1 pm immediately followed at 3 pm with funeral services and interment.
Hug your families, call your friends: we never know when our time is up.
His family has requested that in lieu of flowers, those who wish to commemorate Tom’s life donate to a college fund for his daughter, Leah Michelle Belrose, c/o Michelle Hubbell, P.O. Box 71, Johnson, VT 05656.
I didn’t know Tom, but from your eulogy, he sounds like someone who really made a difference in his short life. We could all do a lot worse!
Thanks for the eulogy.
I worked with Tom in the VPIRG canvass office last summer, as the oldest person in the outreach office (by over a decade) his relentlessly positive attitude and awe-inspiring energy towards what was a very tough job was really remarkable.
He set a high-bar for all of us 20-somethings. I remember him cracking up trying to claim that he didn’t know how to read contour lines on a map after sending someone up an insanely steep hill (on a bike) with only a few citizens to talk to. Had anyone else pulled this there would have been some words but I think there was something disarming about the crazy ‘Tom laugh’.
He was relatively new to activism but approached it with such zeal that it was hard not be inspired and motivated by him (even if his facts were, as noted, sometimes a bit questionable). It was good to hear that he was able to continue with progressive causes and have an impact on other campaigns. I always enjoyed watching how he’d always be learning and seeing him (literally as he was a very expressive dude) realize the power of organizing.
Tom was a great guy I wish I had stayed in touch more. RIP.
I worked with Tom when we were both lobbyists for VT Freedom to Marry and I’m grateful I had the opportunity to know him. Of coarse my sympathy goes to his family, especially his young daughter, and also to the driver of the other car and his family. I hope they are all able to heal emotionally and physically as much as possible over time. But my sympathy also goes to all Vermonters because I know if Tom was with us longer he would have continued to fight in favor of legislation and leadership that would make our state an even better place live. I know most of us here are already activists, but maybe we can all do something extra this week in memory of Tom.
I only met Tom briefly, at Visibility Day when I was working with Freedom to Marry. He had a smile that said so much about how proud he was of the work he was doing. Upsetting to see someone like him taken so early.
As the former field director of VFM, I worked directly with Tom who coordinated our door-to-door campaign in the final months before we passed the bill and successfully overrode Douglas’ veto. In short, he worked his tail off. He was very dedicated and our volunteers loved him. He took great pride in his work and we won in part because of his significant contribution – no doubt. We all know he liked to play hard and I’ll admit, I was always stunned by his ability to show up the next day for work, but he did with a cup of coffee in one hand, a cigarette in the other and a smile. He will be missed.
Robyn Maguire
I didn’t know Tom that well, but I can tell you that he was a bundle of energy with ideals we could all learn from. I’m so sorry to hear of his passing. My sympathies to his family…especially his daughter. He will be missed.
I am kicking myself more than usual today because my characteristic inability to remember names and faces has finally born bitter fruit.
Imagine my horror when I discovered this afternoon, that not only did I not recognize the name and picture of a young friend, Tom Belrose, who recently passed away
and was eulogized by his OTHER friends in GMD; but in my haste and distraction, I even overlooked a P.S. from a mutual friend that could have brought me around a lot sooner!
Talk about a life lesson! I can’t help wondering what other private landmarks in the lives of my friends and family I have breezed past, unknowingly, in my scurry just to keep up
with an ever broadening world.
I DID know Tom! I knew him as simply “Tom”, a friendly fixture at Dem headquarters in St. Albans during the Obama campaign. I saw him at least twice a week for months on end. Up or down, he never seemed to be less than overjoyed to see me when I shuffled into the office for my late afternoon shift. He’d been there all day in that airless room, sustained on cold coffee, stale donuts and God only knew what else; but he always could work up the enthusiasm for a brief but spirited political discussion of the news du jour before we both turned our attention to the phones. He was a nice guy and I would have liked to think I would see him there on the next campaign. He will be missed.Tom