May 7, 1951 – September 11, 2015
Passed peacefully, surrounded by family September 11th, 2015. Loving, selfless father to Daniel, Anna, Benjamin, and Emily. The most magical of Grandpa’s to Blake and John. Tom will be fondly remembered as a man who loved with enormous capacity, who lived with reckless abandonment, who taught life lessons with thoughtful wisdom and who lived to light the lives of others.
Maker of magic, lover of humanity, missed by all the lives he touched.
Service will be held at The Salvation Army Victoria Citadel, 4030 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC on September 16th, 2015 at 4pm.
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Tom sat in the same row as us at the Citadel and he was quite the character. He liked to help giving out the Bulletins and helping out with the ‘coffee hour’ and some bunwiches; always kind, always gentle–our row will miss him deeply. May God bless his family during their loss.
He was a magic man, full of life and love, and of good humour…. He will be very sadly missed……We were lucky to have shared him in our lives……
Tom was the most generous, kind and optimistic ping pong partner I ever met. Kind, because he always greeted me at the ping pong get togethers with these words “Come on Fran, Let’s you and me partner and we’ll beat them all.” What a wonderful greeting to me, the lamest and slowest of players. I have many laughs and fun times to remember, thanks to Tom. I shall really miss his good spirits, his courage and his kindness.
Dear Anna,
May fond memories of your dad bring you comfort during this hard time in your life. Look back on all the good memories you were able to have and smile at the fact that you were able to share these before he passed away. Our hearts and prayers go out to you and your family.
Nick and Mary
My family has few memories that do not include Tom or Dad or Mr Hewko.
Halloween was made magical with Tom’s pumpkin carving expertise!
The children loved his never ending Halloween fireworks and decorations.
Just one more and the yard will be complete! Christmas was better when Tom made those perfect marsh mellow yummy treats and tirelessly shopped for the perfect ornament for each of his four children.
I have never met a better egg hider than Mr Hewko! Dogs loved Tom and Tom loved animals.
Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
have come.
With your chrome heart shining
in the sun.
Long may you run.
Love Laurie
h
Tom will be missed at table tennis in James Bay. He always added some humour to the game.
My deepest sympathies to Tom’s family over this tragic loss.
I got to know Tom relatively recently at the YMCA and then by inviting him to play ping pong at the James Bay Community Centre and eventually by playing ping pong in the rec room of his condominium. During that time it was a discovery process as the various layers of Tom’s personality became more evident. Yes first impressions were of a bombastic sense of humor often designed to shock and perhaps to confuse. Tom’s frequent e-mails we’re legendary for what I called “Tom-Speak”.. That was my way of describing Tom’s way of communication that was sometimes difficult to decipher as to their true meaning, if that was possible. Over time Tom’s many positive characteristics became more evident. Yes the same sense of humor was still there but perhaps a bit less bombastic. He revealed himself as a person who was very disciplined, principled, caring, funny, smart, generous and very much in command of his environment. Tom had a distinguished career in accounting and was generous in sharing that knowledge with other people thinking nothing of doing tax returns without any compensation. He was generous to a fault helping people in financial need. At times he found that his financial generosity was abused but Tom had a way of brushing that off. He was generous with his time for friends in need of finding the way through bureaucracy and he gladly did it despite being frustrated at times… Thomas spoke of the difficult times in his life and how that had affected him. These were certainly reasons that should have dragged him down but Tom would have none of that. Instead he was the most upbeat and positive person that I knew. It simply astounded me how he seemed to get a child-like joy out of ping pong.. I will always remember two quotes from Tom that he repeated on numerous occasions. The first one being “Walter, I simply can’t imagine having more fun than playing ping pong”. I envied Tom for the degree of commitment and joy that he got from the game because I could not match that. That brings me the second quote which astounded me even more – “Walter, I can’t imagine my life being any better than it is right now” – what an amazing statement. So again, I was in awe of the degree of enthusiasm and joy that Tom extracted from the simple things in life – being committed to the YMCA and working out regularly, playing ping pong, relaxing daily in the spa of his condo while reading his newspaper,helping his friends and family and, oh yes, I almost forgot – the joy that he got out of performing his magic tricks for children in Canada and abroad. The twinkle in his eye that was there when he told his jokes, when he talked about ping pong when he talked about going to the gym and working was also there when he talked about his magic tricks. I don’t know about Tom’s earlier life but I felt that he had reached a point in his life where his issues had been resolved and he was just enjoying life. One of the advantages of playing ping pong in the rec room of his condominium was that we got an opportunity to talk while we were playing. At times the conversation would turn to his family and how proud he was of his children and what they had achieved. He was more than thrilled that once again all of his children were part of his life and an outing to the Sooke Potholes was a real highlight.
In the end my exposure to Tom was much too short – but such is life. Farewell dear friend – you and your “joie de vivre” will be missed.
Our condolences to The Hewko family on Toms’ passing.
I will always remember the days way back when Tom coached the Wetaskiwin “Olympians” as well as taught the kids in town swimming lessons. Tom was a strong promoter of physical fitness amongst the young kids he taught and coached, as well as always made sure we all had “a blast” participating. Tom worked hard to organize fund raisers so the team could travel to swim meets and enjoy lunches on the road. One fund raiser went to purchasing tee shirts for the swim team that were emblazoned with the phrase “Olymps ain’t Whimps”. Being 6ft. and about 90 lbs soaking wet at the time. ………. I managed to get about 4 of them.
“Those were the old days”
Songwriter: Carley Simon
Rest in Peace Thomas
I was shocked and sad to hear of Tom’s passing. I only knew him for a relatively short time but very much enjoyed his enthusiasm and friendliness. I’ll miss him at our ping-pong and coffee get-togethers. Happy travels, Tom, wherever you are!
Tom and I have been friends for over 35 years. He was my accountant and was very important to my family(s) and I. We discussed work and he was a great mentor to me and when things got bad for me financially he leant me money to start over again. It was a substantial amount and at the time he was in Victoria and I was here in Wetaskiwin. We never signed a paper or shook a hand. He trusted me and I never let him down. We continued to be friends and we helped each other through some pretty hard times and some pretty good ones as well. We didn’t always agree but we always came to see each others point of view. I don’t ever remember a cross word between us in all the time I knew him. He taught me a lot and I taught him some as well. Between the two of us we could tackle almost any problem in our lives. We talked a couple times a week usually by phone and I think I only got together face to face with him once or twice in the time since he moved to BC. We knew what each others kids were doing and Tom always talked about his children with great pride. In the last couple years he had a few health issues and we talked often about that. Two years ago he rebuilt his heart and last year his teeth. He was the bionic man! lol Back to the gym again and doing what he loved to do. He was almost always happy and optimistic. It was almost unbelievable that he fell so suddenly. I will miss him very much as I know the life I have today would not have been without his help and trust. I could write pages about him but will end it now. He is gone but will never be forgotten. Good bye old friend.
Our deepest sympathy and condolences go out to all who are grieving the loss of Thomas at this time. It’s hard to know what to say at times like this, but please find comfort in what it says at John 5:28 & 29, and that for now, it’s just like your loved one is “sleeping.” Also be comforted by knowing that soon the earth will be a place where death will be a thing of the past as Revelation 21:4 promises, and our loved ones will be healthy and happy again. Till that time, it’s hoped that these few sincere words help you through the days ahead. Take care.
Our hearts and thoughts go out to the Hewko family.
Unfortunately, we never did get to meet Tom ….
… but, we are so grateful for the beautiful of heart
and loving son-in-law he gave us – Daniel.
Thank you Tom and may you forever more, be
at peace, in the loving arms of Jesus, our
Lord and Savior.
Blessings and love to all,
Nancy and John Karvellas