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03/29/2017 08:30 AMWhether it is for his excavating business, his years as a volunteer firefighter, or because he’s a car enthusiast, East Haven residents may have heard the name Tom Letis.
Tom owns and runs his own company, Letis Trucking and Excavating. The company does residential and commercial site work, such as sewage and foundations. He runs the business out of his home, which his mother and father originally built. Tom has added on over the years, but he’s lived and worked there ever since it was built.
In fact, that’s how Tom got his start. The property was previously a farm, and Tom began working on it at age 14. He said the first piece of heavy equipment he bought was a bulldozer, and he continued to work his way up from there.
Tom has been involved in the community in many other ways. He served as a volunteer firefighter for the Foxon branch of the Fire Department for more than 50 years. He notes that he’s fought a lot of fires, and notes a welcome trend in the number of fires now.
“Years back, me and my help would spend half or three quarters of the day fighting fires,” he says.
He plowed snow for the state as an outside contractor for 33 years. One of the storms he remembers the most was the Blizzard of 1978, mainly because of the time he put in.
“We worked around the clock, seven days a week,” he said.
Visitors can even see a classic plow truck on Tom’s property. The truck was made in 1972, and Tom actually ran it in the United States Bicentennial Parade in East Haven.
Tom has done a lot of work around town. He did all the site work for Trolley Crossing, and developed a project on Letis Court, which is named after him. Tom said that four of the houses have sold so far.
At 79 years old, Tom shows no signs of stopping. One of the projects he’s currently working on is for Habitat for Humanity, doing site work for one of its projects in Hamden. He got started working for the organization when it was having trouble with the previous excavator. The organization needed someone with a no-nonsense attitude, he says, and Tom fit that bill perfectly.
Because his experience is well known, he says that he rarely lands an easy job, and the Habitat for Humanity project is no exception. Despite the rocky site, he was impressed with the number of volunteers the organizations has, and the work that they’re able to accomplish.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s a sight to see,” he said, “They make a nice little house, I have to say that for them.”
Tom has two children, a son and a daughter, and both take after him in different ways. His daughter Wendy is involved in her community, working with the Board of Education in her home town of Hamden. His son Tommy (aka “Jojo”) works at an engine shop for Amtrak, where he does welding and fabricating among other things.
One of the things of which Tom is most proud is the success and longevity of his business, as he has been at it for more than 50 years. He and his wife Sandy, who helps him run the company, said they have done work for families from generation to generation.
“We get calls from people that say, ‘You dug my father’s pool’ or ‘You dug my mother’s foundation,’” Sandy says.
Sandy says it’s very fulfilling for them to be able to help so many people, adding that you could write a book about all things Tom has done and the people that he’s helped.
“That’s for sure,” Tom says.
Amidst everything else, another place Tom can be found is at car shows, where he brings his 1956 Thunderbird.
“It’s getting to be that time already,” he said, “I’ve got to get it out and start working on it.”