Tom was born in Franklin, Sussex County, N. J., one of the most rural parts of the state, and returned there after graduation and a stint in the Army. At Princeton he majored in the Woodrow Wilson School, ran high hurdles on the track team, and was a member of Cap and Gown.
He was drafted in 1953 and spent two years as a radio operator at Camp Gordon in Georgia and Fort Meade in Maryland. Tom then moved on to Harvard Law School, where he met Ann Elizabeth Gordon, a student at Radcliffe, whom he married in 1959 after her graduation.
Meanwhile, Tom had begun clerking with a law firm in Newton, N.J., in Sussex County, and joined the firm after his graduation from law school. He was made a partner in 1962 and continued with the firm until his retirement in 1999. Local activities included serving on the board of trustees of the hospital and as a municipal judge. Having grown up on the family farm, Tom enjoyed being a weekend farmer and took a great interest in raising Black Angus cattle. He died Dec. 5, 2016, and is survived by his wife, their three children, and their children’s families.