Memorial Service

Tom used to put the worm on my hook, too. -  Well, not really, but we
spent many great hours fishing together.

A few months ago Tom, John, and I attended a Chagrin Valley Rotary
breakfast. One of the women members spoke and observed, "I see the
Fulton Triplets are present." Well, John and I weren't exactly clones
of Tom, but we have had much in common with him and our lives
have run parallel courses in many ways.

Some examples: Obviously, we had the same parents. We all went to
Cleveland Heights High School and belonged to the same fraternity,
which was called Friars. We all went to college at Amherst and
joined the same fraternity our dad belonged to, namely, Deke. I even
tried to emulate Tom by being a diver, but he was truly a star diver,
and frankly I wasn't very good. John wisely chose track, at which he
excelled. I guess I should have joined the chess club.

We all served in the navy; attended the same law school; were
members of the Jaycees and Rotary; and, yes, we all married girls
whose names ended in "A": Martha, Stella, and Sandra.

We worked together at Fulton & Goss for nearly thirty years and
were officers in the Mortgage Bankers Association. After we sold the
company and went our separate ways, we always kept in very close
touch with each other.

Finally, there is a place each of us has loved more than any other on
earth and that was -- and is -- our family cottage on Ahmic Lake in
Ontario, where we have vacationed with our families and often
together for over sixty years.

Now all this may sound like we were just copycats, with no ability to
make independent life choices. It's true John and I idolized Tom and
felt inclined to do many of the same things he did. But there is a lot
more to it than that.

For one thing, we had strong values and a sense of family loyalty that
were instilled in us by our wonderful parents. Our interests were just
naturally similar, and we enjoyed engaging in the same activities and
business careers. Most of all, we got along with each other
remarkably well. To be sure, we occasionally disagreed on business
decisions, but I don't remember a time we really argued. We had too much respect for each other for that.

Now time has removed one of the triplets, and it leaves an enormous void in the lives of John and me. But we also have been left with many cherished memories of Tom, and we feel blessed to have had him for a brother and to have been so close to him.

Tom was not only our beloved brother but also our highly respected business colleague and mentor, our hero, our best friend.

From my earliest recollection I can hear our mother call – “Tom, David, I mean John!” Tom, Dave and then John – the natural order of things. Therefore, it is only proper that Dave precede me to the lectern today. Besides, Dave, Tom always liked you best! No? you’re right – Tom shared his brotherly love equally,but I had to get that in.

It must have been 1947 or 48 when my cousin John Teare was visiting us from his home in Cornwall, Ontario. John, who had hoped to be here today but is down with the flu, is a few years younger than I and we always have a good time when we are together. This year we decided to play a trick on Tom. He was arriving home from a party with his special sweetheart, Martha Laidley. As they entered the house, John and I ducked behind the sofa in the living room. Soon the lights were turned down low and they were about to engage in some serious spooning when John and I jumped up and chanted, “two little lovebirds went to a party, one named Tom and one named Marty”. That sure broke the mood! Tom was not amused and in no uncertain terms told us to get out and go to bed where we belonged!

Tom quickly forgave which was one of his many virtues, and a few days later he and I were playing my favorite board game. It had a baseball theme and each player had a team. Mine was made up of the baseball greats of the day: Bob Feller, Lou Boudreau, Joe Dimaggio, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Roy Campenella. Tom’s team was a bunch of chain smoking reprobates. At first base was Philip Morris, third base had Pall Mall, his starting pitcher of course was Lucky Strike, in center field, who else but Chester Field and Old Gold was his veteran catcher. Oh how I loved to play that game with Tom. Looking back, however, I don’t think it was his favorite pastime but he indulged me and seldom turned down my request to play awhile.

I cherish the moments I had with him. Whether it was playing a board game, helping me deliver newspapers on a cold winter morning, or more recently having frequent and lengthy lunches, or the three of us – Tom, Dave, and I out on the waters of Ahmic Lake, seeking that elusive small mouth bass and all agreeing that mom and dad were looking down upon and they were well pleased.
I feel fortunate to have shared with Dave over the years, the love, affection, fellowship and friendship of our brother Tom.