~    Tom Popowski's Memorial Page    ~

December 21, 1965 - January 30, 2008

In Thomas Keith Popowski's short life, he accomplished more than most people. His life was full of dreams that he fulfilled, and great success, which inspired so many people.

Born in Jersey City, NJ on December 21, 1965, Tom grew up in Wood Ridge and attended the New Jersey School for the Deaf in West Trenton, graduating in 1985. At the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, he became a Kappa Phi Theta fraternity brother and earned an associates degree in civil technology. Tom worked as a survey technician in Vernal, Utah and Coconino National Forest in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1992, before he relocated to Washington State in 1993. He became a drafter and worked in the private sector, including with Boeing and Cascade Natural Gas.

Tom had an unmatched zest for life and developed six passions, the first being athletics. Tom began his lifelong excellence in athletics in middle school. Among his high school accomplishments were being selected as an all-star, most valuable player, scoring 1,000 points in basketball and winning the national basketball championship. A month after graduation in 1985, he headed to Los Angeles for the 15th World Games for the Deaf (WGD) as a member of the U.S. soccer team. In 1988, he was selected as the top-ranked player for the U.S. table tennis team, but with insufficient funds, he did not participate in WGD in 1989. He was later selected as an alternate in U.S. team handball for the 1993 WGD.

Between 1986 and 2007, Tom played basketball and softball for many Deaf clubs, including within the Eastern Athletic Association of the Deaf, New England Athletic Association of the Deaf, Central Athletic Association of the Deaf, Farwest Athletic Association of the Deaf, and Northwestern Athletic Association of the Deaf regions. He often won all-star or most valuable player awards in regional and national levels.

This love of athleticism led to Tom's next passion: competitive events. He participated in hundreds of competitions, including dualthlons, triathlons, 5K/10K runs, and multi-sport events. He also had incredible skill at cycling, including cyclocross, criterium, sprint, time trail and road racing.

When Tom went and visited 25 European countries in 1988, he discovered a passion for traveling. Between 1998 and 2007, he visited 47 countries solo, including Africa for three weeks before he passed, bringing the total to 73 countries on six continents. He was full of tales about the little-known locales he visited, always trying to get to the authentic culture of the area as much as possible.

Two of Tom's other lifelong passions were national parks and deaf schools. He was always in awe of the beauty of national parks, and in the incredible history of the 60-plus Deaf schools he visited around the world.

His final passion was The Three Stooges. Tom always found the shows hilarious, and would laugh at every show. He collected The Three Stooges memorabilia, and knew every show like the back of his hand.

Tom was the epitome of an all-around American, excelling in whatever he tried and bringing such passion and love to those around him. Tom will be sorely missed by everyone of us.

This Memory of Tom Popowski will continue for 2 years.

His goals of having GSCD hosting Basketball and Softball 2009 Tournaments in Seattle, Washington.

He succeeds in establishing both! Unfortunately, he is not here to see that both happening. May he have the blessings from us.