Tom was a friend of mine, a very good friend. He lived in a village on the outskirts of our territory, and was in his 60's and retired when he became a JW. Tom studied with my husband Ron, often accompanied by me. He is dead now, having died in 1995, and I still miss him. He was a real character, of the sort that is sadly missing from congregations nowadays..
Tom was 69 when he began studying, a retired policeman who had been in the navy during the war who had been widowed for 2 years when he was first contacted. He was a big man, standing 6 feet 6 inches tall, with a red face and a huge handlebar moustache. I remember going with Ron to his study - he always puffed away on this enormous pipe, at least during the first couple of months, but gave it up when he started to take things a little more seriously and attend meetings, though I often wondered if he smoked it at other times. He was slightly hard of hearing, and had a tendency to shout a little, reminiscent of my great aunt Vi.
I remember the first time he went on the service with my husband. Ron dealt with the first few householders before he let Tom loose on them, and the first person he spoke to wasn't willing to take the mags, but he was quietly spoken, and Tom couldn't hear him too well, and kept saying "pardon, pardon" every time the poor man said no thanks. Eventually, the man took the magazines to get rid of Tom, who by this time was shouting and disturbing the rest of the household, so Tom immediately asked when he could call back! Ron, who had been hiding behind Tom because he could hardly contain his laughter, intervened at this point, to the householders relief, and allowed the poor man to go back to his breakfast, but Tom could hardly contain his excitement at having made a placement on his first door, and could barely wait to get to the next one! Perhaps fortunately, they didn't find too many more people in, and Ron decided to do some RV's afterwards, thus sparing any other householder the prospect of being deafened!
Tom's first talk was very entertaining. It was a Bible reading, from the book of Acts, and although the brother set the mike up for him, he hardly needed it. There he stood, this huge, florid man with his suit jacket open, wearing boots and braces, addressing the congregation, almost deafening us with his booming voice.He read the verses almost faultlessly, then launched into telling us how to apply them, until the brother on the sound desk held the "1 minute" sign up, at which point Tom said "a minute? is that al? I thought I'd been up here longer than that!" Of course, it meant 1 minute left, but Tom said "oh well, I'll have to think of a bit more to say" and carried on, until the brother held up the "time up" sign, and Tom shouted "I wish you'd make your mind up". The congregation were rolling in the aisles by this time, and the School Overseer had his head in his hands, but Tom was perfectly calm. He said "ok, I'll finish then" and, thankfully, stepped down from the platform, to a round of applause, probably from relief! He did other talks , but Ron had made him aware of what the 1 minute sign meant, and he more or less stuck to time after that.
He was baptised in 1988, at the age of 71, and when he emerged from the dressing rooms, a young brother asked him how he felt, to which Tom replied "wet!". I don't know what the brother was expecting, but I don't think it was that. He had no transport, and the brothers arranged a rota to fetch him, although one brother did most of the runs. I remember one night this brother, who lived onthe same street as Trevor, couldn't make it one night, and phoned Trev to ask him to step in. It was 1992, and Trev had just become an unbaptised publisher. Ron didn't know him well, and when Trev turned up, Tom wouldn't get in the car! He was expecting this other brother, who is a Barbadian, and who he often called "darky", so when Trev turned up, he was a little put out, repeatedly asking in a loud voice "where's darky? he's my lift man" Trev had to show him his bible and songbook to get him in the car, but they got there eventually, and became friends. Trev fetched him a few times after that, and one time he turned up Tom had a large bag with him, and said to Trev "open your boot lad". When Trev got home later, there was a big bag of fresh garden veg in his boot! Tom was very generous in so many ways, and grateful for the efforts people made to get him to meetings, and this was his way of expressing his gratitude.
Tom used to sit with "darky" in the hall, and I remember one Tuesday when the school was splitting, and a few people were going into the second school, Tom turned to his friend and said "ey up darky, where's that lot going? what are they goin' in there for? can we go in, I've never been in there?". Even when it was explained to him, I,m not sure Tom ever really understood why there were 2 schools, even when he gave a talk in the second one.
Tom always sufferred with chest problems, and went down with pneumonia in the winter of 1995. He went into hospital, but didn't recover, and died a few days later. He was 78, and though I'd only known him for just short of 9 years, I will never forget him. He always had a cheerful smile on his face, wore his boots and braces to every meeting, regardless of what sort of meeting it was, and to every assembly. It seemed strange not to hear his booming voice on the ministry or at the meetings any more, and the hall almost had an empty feel to it for a long while after he had gone. He was generous to a fault, and at times everyone in the congregation benefitted from his kindness, especially from the produce of his garden. He had one son, who lived in the south of England, and who came to see him occasionally, but the congregation became his family in many ways, and though the JWs don't have the truth, I believe he benefiited more than most from being one. If more JWs were like Tom, especially elders, kingdom halls would be far more pleasant places to be than they are nowadays.
Marion