Thomas R. Eiler

Tom was born on August 7, 1959 in Madison Wisconsin in the middle of a heat wave. He was the second child and only son of Jerry and Bette Eiler; his older sister was Michele. As his father was in the Air Force, they soon move to Moses Lake Washington, where they were joined by his second sister Debi. The family then moved to Woodstock NY, back to Moses Lake, then to Montgomery AL, Tucson, AZ, then Tacoma WA. Tom's life changed when the family was transferred to Canada when he was in third grade. Upon pulling into their new neighborhood in Toronto, Tom saw some local kids playing hockey and he was in love. He insisted on his parents taking him immediately to the store so he could get a hockey stick and start playing hockey. He played almost non-stop for the three years the family lived in Canada; come rain, snow or storm. Tom's life changed again when the family moved to Annandale when he was in 7th grade. Out of sheer coincidence, the family moved into a house less than a mile from the Serum's without knowing it—even though Jerry Eiler and Marty Serum had been close friends since childhood. The Eiler and Serum families became close friends with Tom and Mark enjoying many adventures together. Tom and Mark were quickly joined by Rick Moye and the three of them became like the three musketeers—especially battling the guy down at the end of the street, John "Huggies" Hughes ; who soon became a good friend as well. Tom started hanging out with a large circle of friends he stayed close with to the end, "The Bradlick Crew". This included Lee, Rob, Bonnie, Joe, Charlie, Pam, Kelly, Lorraine and Diane, the Otwells, and many more, including his future brother in law, Mike Pyne. Tom started his professional career at Memorex in Maryland where he discovered his talents in logistics. Once professionally established, Tom splurged and bought season tickets to the Washington Capitals with Mike Pyne who shared his love of hockey. Tom moved on to Newbridge Networks where his talents in logistics and hard work in logistics management helped him climb through the ranks from a temporary mail room courier to Director or Logistics. About this time, Tom got his first dog, Buddy, whom he adored, and vice versa. Tom had always loved dogs and was happy to get one of his very own. Over the years, Tom would also help out his friends by dog sitting for their dogs—he counted all of them as his friends too. Not long after Tom reached his pinnacle at Newbridge, he bought himself the house at Lake Anna where he spent some of his happiest days. He and Buddy loved the house and the big yard. Tom bought a boat and regularly hosted parties there for his friends and family. While there, Tom and Buddy were joined by new dogs Kodi and Buck. Tom left Newbridge and took time off to relax and enjoy his time at the lake with Buddy, Kodi and Buck. However, after a while, Tom recognized the need to return to the real world so sold the lake house and moved back into his condo in Annandale with Buddy and Kodi. It broke his heart but he had to find another home for Buck as they couldn't all fit in his little condo. Upon returning to Annandale, Tom bounced around a few jobs until he found his niche as a medical courier. This allowed him the freedom he enjoyed being on the road, he could listen to his own music—as loud as he wanted-- he could be his own boss, and he didn't have to deal with any bureaucracy. Many of us enjoyed his tales of life on the road with his "Travels with Tom" stories. Tom enjoyed the people he met and worked with at the various INOVA hospitals and labs and they enjoyed him. Tom had to stop working in early January after he was diagnosed with liver cancer as he quickly became too fatigued to get up and around. He filled his time reading as he had loved to do and watching his beloved Caps (go Caps!) until his body just gave out on February 25.

Tributes

Thomas R. Eiler

August 7, 1959 - February 25, 2012