Thomas Smola Obituary

Just think of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven;

Of touching a hand, and finding it God's

Of breathing new air, and finding it celestial

Of waking up in Glory, and finding it Home.

Tom Smola was my buddy. We shared many wonderful experiences just driving back and forth to work every day together. Passing the time with Tom every day made the traffic seem a little bit lighter. We probably never had more that 5 seconds of silence in the car at any one time. He often thought that we should have been traffic reporters on the radio. He had that dry sense of humor that made you laugh out loud, AND OFTEN.



Tom loved the White Sox. He lived and died with every game and every pitch. One of his dreams was to be the Sox announcer. Believe me, he would have been an improvement.



Tom really loved his father, Walter Smola, 84, who played baseball in the 1930’s and 1940’s. He spent the last 10 years or so searching out for baseball cards of players that his father played with and against. Tom’s dad never made it to the majors because he served in the armed forces during World War II during his prime. However he did get to pitch against many future major leaguers such as Jackie Robinson. He even made it into “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”. He did not have to throw a pitch, yet he recorded 3 outs in an inning.



He spent the past 45 years collecting baseball memorabilia. He sent self addressed stamped envelopes to baseball players with cards and pictures hoping that they would be autographed and returned to him. This surprisingly did not work but only a fraction of the time. Just last week Tom received a picture that he sent to a former White Sox player in the 1970’s and he just got it 25 years later with an old 29 cent stamp and 8 one cent stamps on the cover. That is really amazing!



Tom cooked and cleaned every night for his 84 year old father. He was extremely dedicated to his father and also every company that he worked at. He came to work even on the weekends sometimes just to make sure the payroll would go out on time.



I already miss my buddy, Tom. He is irreplaceable. I met him 2 ½ years ago. Boy was I blessed to have had that time with him. He was a true friend. Have a good time in Heaven Tom. I’ll be looking forward to the Sox winning the World Series next year. I know you will have a hand in it.