Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Tom's life journey began with his family. He was given the name Thomas Eugene Hughes when he was born in Toledo, Ohio, on February 23rd, 1956. His mother, Jean, worked as a legal secretary; while his father, Thomas, worked as a book salesman and then at RCA. Tom was raised with his sister Mary and his brother Bill. When he was 9-years-old, the family moved to the Burbank area. Seeking new opportunities, it was nice to settle here, as they had relatives in Southern California.

As a child, Tom was always busy and on the run. He was an active child. He fell in love with flying kites when his dad took the kids to the park to fly kites. He graduated from Burbank High School and a friend of his father's gave him his first job in the pest control field. He was 17-years-old when he started in the business.

It was a friendship that led to Tom's relationship with Marla. Tom's sister, Mary, was best friends with Marla and their group of friends were always together. Marla and Tom reconnected in 1992. They each had a son born one year apart as they started dating. Tommy was Tom's son and Jamie was Marla's son. On one of their first dates, Tom took Marla to get her first tattoo at Sunset Strip Tattoo. Tom already had two tattoos and Marla got her first tattoo, a little rose. Marla and Tom also went dirt bike riding and camping in the desert with their boys, Tommy and Jamie. The boys were always included in their fun outings. Tom's mother, Jean, even said that Marla refined Tom. He'd walk around barefoot all the time before Marla came along. He also started buying nicer clothes and wearing cologne.

Marla and Tom's relationship came naturally. Tom proposed to Marla in Lake Tahoe. The couple married in a beautiful backyard wedding ceremony in September 1994. The couple then honeymooned where they got engaged in Lake Tahoe.

For Marla and Tom's first anniversary celebration, the couple enjoyed going white water river rafting. They celebrated other special anniversaries through the years by going to Las Vegas.

Marla, Tom and the boys had a great time together. Jamie was already in Boy Scouts and Tommy joined the Boy Scouts, too. The boys were in the same grade at school and that made it easy. The family really had fun tent camping in their free time. They even rented a RV camper for a big trip to Carlsbad Caverns at Christmas time in 1996.

Tom's mom was big on manners when they were growing up and she taught Tom that nothing was only a woman's chore. As a result, Tom mowed the lawn once a week, he'd wash the cars, he helped with the cleaning, vacuuming, and even shampooed the carpet and helped wash the curtains. He was a wonderful husband, supporter and true companion.

Fourteen years ago, there was a wonderful surprise for the entire family. Marla came home from the doctor's office with the news. She remembers Tom was out behind the house in his truck when she told him, "We have to talk." He looked at her and asked, "Is this going to involve the next 18 years of my life? Well….there goes my Harley." He joked around, but he was thrilled to become a father again. Marla's mother and sister and Tom were in the room when their daughter was born. They named her Meaghan Rose. Everyone teased Tom that he was wrapped around Meaghan's little finger. When Meaghan was little (and every night since) when he put her to bed, he'd say, "Love you; sweet dreams; see you in the morning." Tom was a wonderful father to all of their children. He was supportive of their dreams, loving, and caring. Truly, you couldn't ask for a better father.

There were family camping trips to the Sequoias and McGrath Park. There were lots of trips to Las Vegas. Tom went with his son Tommy on many dirt bike adventures as well as many day trips to Gorman with Rene or brother Bill .

Professionally, for 38 years Tom worked as a Termite Inspector. He never had a problem crawling under a house and seeing all the critters that live under there. All animals loved him, especially the dogs he encountered in his work. He also did a lot of side jobs with construction work and painting people's homes. His sister, Mary, was always happy to refer him to her friends. Tom had a real talent for refinishing and staining furniture. There are some beautiful wood furniture pieces at his home such as tables, dressers, and a sewing machine table. He'd go out to the garage at night and work. He was really helpful around the house, too, as he could fix anything and everything.

In 2002, Tom had one of his tattoos covered over with an amazing tattoo of a Leprechaun dressed in Kelly green. Marla and Tom got their tattoos together and she also added an amazing dragon tattoo that year.

In 2005, Tom had a surprise for Marla. He took her to Bellflower to pick up a new motorcycle. Tom owned lots of dirt bikes over the years, but this was his first and only street bike when he bought a Suzuki Boulevard Cruiser with saddlebags and everything. He took Marla on incredible rides along PCH by the ocean and through Griffith Park. They went with friends from Canoga Park on rides and they rode to Big Bear with friends on his motorcycle. They celebrated one of their wedding anniversaries by riding their bike to Julian, a gold mining town in the back country of San Diego. Tom picked up Meaghan from school and even took Meaghan to dance classes on his motorcycle. He rode his motorcycle in all kinds of weather, except the pouring rain. He also said that his motorcycle was a total chick magnet, but of a geriatric age. It was true. Marla and Tom were at Taco Bell one day when a gray haired lady was with her husband and she approached Tom on his motorcycle. She winked at him and said, "Nice bike." Marla and Tom thought it was funny. There were other older ladies who also said they liked his motorcycle.

With many favorites in life, Tom liked classic rock music and he enjoyed listening to KROQ radio when he was on the job. He really enjoyed The Beatles and Johnny Cash and his theme song was "Bad to the Bone," by George Thorogood. Marla even painted the words, "Bad to the Bone," on his old dirt bike. Tom had a talent for barbequing and that's how he often cooked their dinners by barbequing on the gas grill. His favorite drink was Coca-Cola but he liked all sodas.

Tom's favorite hobby was flying kites on windy days. He had a talent for flying kites, as he knew when to let out a little more string to make it fly. He'd go to the local elementary school to fly kites and anywhere there was an open field and lots of wind. One time, he even flew a kite off a balcony in Palm Desert with Rene. And, when Mary went to South Carolina on a recent trip, she bought him a new kite and he loved it. Another hobby was coin collecting. Tom and Marla collected special quarters for the kids, but he also had a collection of many unusual, old rare coins.

Tom had a habit of disappearing at family gatherings and parties. He'd offer to go to the store and pick something up. His famous line was, "I'll be right back," and then two or three hours later, everyone would wonder where Tom was. He couldn't sit still, he liked to be on the go and he'd sneak off only to find him later tinkering or fixing something. He never sat idle.

When Marla told her husband, "You look so handsome," Tom responded in a funny way by saying, "Oh, bullshit." It made her laugh, because he had a fabulous sense of humor.

Throughout his life, Tom loved nature and animals and he enjoyed the company of his dogs. His pit bull "C.J." was a wonderful pet for 15 years and passed away last year. The family now has a rescue pit bull puppy named "Maddie." She's only 10-months-old. Tom also had two snakes named Little Snakey and Big Snakey. Little Snakey is a three foot Rosey Boa and Big Snakey was an eight-foot Columbian Red Tail Boa.

Tom had a dry sense of humor and he was always ready with a joke. Even when it was a serious situation, he tried to lighten the spirit by cracking jokes. He had a great time in life, he loved to laugh and he had a gift to make other people laugh. People gravitated to him, even strangers. Everyone liked Tom and wherever he went, small babies loved him. When the family went out to restaurants, babies were constantly making googly eyes at him and visa versa.

When his nieces and his nephew were little, they used to call him "Uncle A-boo." It all started because he would always play the "peek….-A-boo" game with them. He loved teasing and playing with them.

Every family holiday, including Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, were spent at Marla and Tom's home for years. When Mary and Rene moved into their big house, the holiday gatherings were moved to their home. When all of the kids in the extended family were little, they went trick or treating together. Tom's family was very close knit and they were on the phone with each other every day. They were always around and it was nice to have that family support.

With 17 years of a beautiful marriage, Marla and Tom never fought. They rarely disagreed on things. Tom never raised his voice to Marla or the kids and he never spoke badly to them or about them to anyone. Tom was such a rare, beautiful person filled with kindness and love. When he saw a beautiful rose at a home where he had a job, he would snip a rose for his wife and he brought that rose home for Marla. She's even dried some of those roses and they're in her kitchen. After Meaghan was born, he brought two roses home, one for Marla and one for Meaghan.

On Tom's birthday this year, Marla and Meaghan took him to Morton's Steakhouse in Burbank to celebrate his 55th birthday together. Nearly every year, Marla gave him a fruit tart with custard for his birthday because it was his favorite dessert.

Last year, Tom's brother-in-law Rene passed away unexpectedly. On the anniversary of Rene's passing this year, the family gathered here at Forest Lawn for a picnic in Rene's memory.

Only two weeks ago on Sunday, Tom celebrated the April birthdays at dinner with family at Black Angus Steakhouse. He wasn't feeling well for a few days, but his passing has been completely unexpected. After his passing, Marla gave her husband a kiss and said goodbye.

Marla will miss everything about Tom, especially his beautiful face. She'll miss his kiss goodbye in the morning and his kiss hello every evening. She'll miss his joking, the motorcycle rides, and the security and comfort of his presence, because he took care of everything in their lives. Marla will carry his love with her every day. His spirit is in everything in their home, and in all of his friends and family. His love and his presence will always be felt.

Tom's purpose in life was to bring people together. He brought out the best in every situation. He also helped anyone who asked. Marla's girlfriend, Donita, who also passed away last year, referred to Tom as "Hubby number two." He was so caring. All who knew him are saddened and surprised by his passing. He was happy to lend a helping hand time and time again.

Tom's advice to everyone would be to carry on in your lives and be happy. He'd want you to know he's still watching over all of you like a guardian angel.

Tom was preceded in death by his father Thomas, his mother-in-law Barbara and brother-in-law Rene. He is loved and remembered by his mother Jean and stepfather Bill; his wife, Marla; son Tommy; son Jamie and daughter-in-law Heather; daughter Meaghan; sister Mary; brother Bill and his wife Lisette; nieces Jenilee, Kasey, Elena and Amy; nephews Shaun and Daniel; sister-in-law Liane; brother-in-law Daniel; his closest friend Randy; extended family, good neighbors and many friends.