Thomas Ellis' Obituary
Tom was born in 1929 in Los Angeles, and grew up in Piedmont, CA., the first child of Irving and Louise Ellis. The family would soon expand to include his beloved siblings, Richard and Judy.Tom’s father was a renaissance man who regularly took himacross the Bay, by ferry, to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Tom attended Piedmont High School and tried out for just about every sport, often lamenting that he never earned a varsity letter. He had more success in the boy scouts, where he proudly became an Eagle Scout. Following in his father’s photographic footsteps, he ended up working for the Piedmont High newspaper and yearbook taking pictures of all the school’s sporting events, and would go on to study advertising and art at San Jose State University. He was a proud founding member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity there, and business manager of the Spartan Daily newspaper. Together with his lifelong friends Art Nortier and Al Thomas he formed the Dixie Half Dozen band. As the only live band in the area, they were a hot ticket for local parties and events.After college he enlisted in the Navy. At flight school inPensacola Florida he was among a select few that successfully completed the rigorous and daunting training program to become a Navy pilot. He flew non-combat missions from aircraft carriers off the coasts of Japan, Guam, and the Philippines during the Korean War. During his time in the military he met his first love, a young woman from Japan.Returning to California alone, heartbroken also over the loss of his mother, he soon met a lovely UCLA student named Lois Adler from Detroit Michigan. They would marry the next year (1958) following a whirlwind international courtship. After the military, Tom worked in the advertising field in LA and at a startup boat-building venture in the Bay Area, before settling into the real estate business in San Francisco. He worked in sales, lending, appraising, and office management and was involved in many redevelopment projects. He and Lois had two sons, Steve in 1959 and Bruce in 1961. Lois and Tom divorced in 1967.His next love was Patricia Young, who he married in 1969. Together they raised three daughters, Rochelle (born in 1977) and twins Gabrielle and Nicole (born in 1982). During this time Tom also switched careers, becoming an owner and manager of the Hotel Californian in downtown San Francisco. Patti and Tom divorced in 1995.Tom was a man with many passions. First and foremost was his family. For the last 20 years, the most important thing in his life was getting his entire family together for a week at the beach each summer in Aptos. The campaign to capture the commitment of the elusive grandchildren was never ending. He would rarely miss a family event, making it to almost all of the many weddings and bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies of his kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins, and even great nieces and nephews. He was a proud and beloved father, grandfather, brother and uncle.And while he was never much of a cook, he was famous in the family and beyond for one particular delicacy. He inherited the now almost 100-year old waffle iron his parents received as a wedding gift, and he would put it to good use–churning out loads of home made waffles topped with cream cheese, fresh fruit and maple syrup, often to the chant of “more waffles, many more waffles,” rising up from his many descendants.He loved to travel, visiting many far-flung corners of the world, from safaris in Africa to beach vacations in Baja, Bali and Tahiti. He visited the Great Wall of China, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the pyramids in Egypt. He enjoyed cruising in Alaska, hiking in the Canadian Rockies, scuba diving in Australia and the Caribbean, exploring Europe, and sight seeing in Southeast Asia. He also made the most of living in California, camping at the Russian River, antique hunting in the gold country, relaxing in Napa Valley, abalone diving at Fort Ross, swimming at Laguna beach and skiing at Tahoe. It seems there were few places he didn’t visit.He was a lover of art and beauty. He held season tickets to both the opera and the symphony. He was an accomplished painter with a watercolor studio in Belmont. For over 40 years he was avid collector of spectacular mineral specimens, and was a proud member of the Crystal Gazers. He was a talented musician who played banjo, ukulele, guitar and piano. And he could sing and dance and yodel!He loved horse racing, owning several thoroughbreds that raced at Bay Meadows, Golden Gate Fields and county fairgrounds. He was an avid reader. And he was a multitalented sportsman—actively pursing tennis, golf, scuba diving, skiing, biking, and even ping pong and bowling (not to mention backgammon, poker, casino, dominoes and bridge). He was also a big fan of professional sports—particularly the Giants, 49’ers and Warriors—teams, which delivered both many championships and many frustrations along the way. He also loved fast cars, from his triple carburetor Pontiac GTO (one of the original muscle cars) to his James Bond like AstonMartin, from his elegant Jaguar to his bevy of Mercedes. One of his great attributes was his loyalty as a friend. For Thomaselli, friendships were for life. He never had a bad thing to say about his buddies, and he managed to maintain those relationships for decades, long before Facebook ever came into being. He had enduring relationships with college friends, business associates, golf buddies, ski club members,theatergoers, tennis players, crystal gazers, and adversaries at cards and backgammon. Many of these friendships developed through his long-time membership at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club.In the later years of his life, he had a number of sweet, but shorter romantic relationships—but that all changed when he met Soon Yi in 2011. They shared six years together and Soon Yi lovingly cared for Tom throughout his cancer treatment, remaining at his side until the very end.Tom is survived by his siblings Richard Ellis (Linda) and Judy Glickman Lauder (Leonard); his five children Steve (Cathy Summer), Bruce (Kelly Hardesty), Rochelle (Tony Rotundo), Nicole (Matt Snyder) and Gabrielle; four grandchildren (Jayne, Maya, Leah and Joel), seven nieces and nephews (and their families), and his partner Soon Yi Song.His was buried with military honors at Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo on Monday August 14th. Donations in his memory may be made to the Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired (www.lighthouse-sf.org).
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