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Thomas G. Bombaci, Sr., born Dec. 26, 1926, to Giovanni “John” Bombaci and Lavinia DeStefano Bombaci, died in Chelan, Washington, Nov. 4, 2016. The sixth of seven children, he was born and raised in Essex.

He was predeceased by his loving wife of 57 years, Martha Page Bombaci; his six siblings, Giovanna Louise “Jennie” Bombaci Cutone, Giuseppe Francis “Joseph” Bombaci, Antonio Jerome “Tony” Bombaci, Santo Louie “Sam” Bombaci, Marie Bombaci Bonanno, and Victor Salvatore Bombaci. He is survived by his loving family Lydia Bombaci Myers and her husband Peter Hamilton Myers; Thomas G. Bombaci, Jr., and his partner Hollis Fleischer; Richard Page Bombaci; and Timothy Clark Bombaci and his wife Karla Joan Holme. He leaves four grandchildren, Kevin Thomas Myers, Brendan Muir Bombaci, Jessica Braley Myers, and Angela Rose Bombaci; as well as three great-grandchildren, Killian Thomas Myers Walsh, Lincoln Hamilton Walsh, and Cosimo Thomas Guthrie.

In his early years, he helped out on his family farm in Essex. He graduated from Pratt High School in Essex in 1945, earning 14 Varsity letters in soccer, baseball, basketball, and track. He set the record for the mile run in the State Championship. He was active in student politics and excelled in math. He joined the U.S. Army, serving as a technical sergeant at Camp Pickett in Virginia. He graduated from Franklin Technical Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, and was later employed as an architectural draftsman in Essex.

He married Martha Haynes Page of Guilford in 1950, of whom he said, “I chased until she caught me.” Beginning in the mid-1950’s, he and family members established the successful Essex Sash & Door, Co. Inc. He subsequently designed and built three homes for his growing family. Tom and Martha retired to Beverly Hills, Florida, in 1987, where they lived until Martha’s death in 2007, at which time Tom relocated to Manson, Washington, to be close to family. Tom was an avid golfer, a die-hard Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays fan, and a master in DIY. He loved playing cribbage, Yahtzee, and other parlor games. He enjoyed working in his yard, taking pride in his property.

In his lifetime, he donated more than 11 gallons of blood to the American Red Cross. Tom was gracious, good-natured, and peace loving. A true gentleman, he was unwaveringly devoted to his wife and family. He will be sorely missed. “Where there is Love, there is no question.”

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, July 14 at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel of the Robinson Wright & Weymer Funeral Home, 34 Main St. in Centerbrook. Burial will follow with the rendering of Full Military Honors in the Centerbrook Cemetery, Westbrook Road, in Centerbrook. Memorial contributions in Tom’s name may be made to the American Red Cross, Connecticut Chapter, 209 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06032. To share a memory of Tom or send a condolence to his family, please visit www.rwwfh.com.