ForeverMissed
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This website has been set up to remember Tom Gylanders - the best dad in the world, a completely devoted husband, a cherished grandad, a kind man with a heart of gold who would help a stranger as readily and quickly as he would help a friend or neighbour.

At 87 I guess he is not one of the 'Facebook Generation' - but he was writing computing manuals back in the 70s when a mainframe computer (with less memory than your mobile phone) needed its own room. My dad definitely made a significant contribution to the age of technology, and so it is completely appropriate for me to be here starting this website. It's 4.10am and I can't sleep - this is helping.

New
today
today
Happy Heavenly Birthday Dad! Love and miss you more than ever. I'd love to feel you stroking my hair ♥️♥️♥️
March 28, 2023
March 28, 2023
It would have been your 100th birthday today Dad. If you were here you’d still be too young for us to lose you. Love you so much ❤️
July 28, 2021
July 28, 2021
Eleven years since you passed Dad and I still don't fully believe it. I'm so grateful for the pictures and videos we can show to your great grandchildren who never had the chance to know you. I love and miss you more than ever Dad. ❤️❤️
March 28, 2021
March 28, 2021
Happy 98th birthday Dad ... I'll never stop missing you or wishing for conversations we never had when I had the chance ... I love you with all my heart xxxxx
July 28, 2020
July 28, 2020
Ten years hasn’t eased how much I miss you ❤️ It has simply been time to look back and know how lucky I was to be your daughter. Love you Dad with all my heart xxx
March 28, 2019
March 28, 2019
Happy birthday Dad .. you're always in my heart xxxxx
March 28, 2019
March 28, 2019
If only you were here for me to hug you and wish you happy birthday ... miss you every day my lovely Dad x
March 28, 2018
March 28, 2018
Happy 95th Birthday Dad xxx Love you always and forever xxx
March 28, 2017
March 28, 2017
Happy 94th birthday Dad ... what I wouldn't give to watch you blowing out all those candles ... still think of you everyday ... love and miss you so much xxxx
July 28, 2016
July 28, 2016
Time has helped to ease the intense stomach wrenching pain of losing you Dad but I miss you every day. Happily I can still see and hear you as clear as day whenever I close my eyes. I love you always. xxx
July 28, 2016
July 28, 2016
Apparently Dad today is the best day of the year to have a birthday.....so though not your birthday....I'd like to think you're having the best day while you watch over all of us. Stay close by...I know you do. Love you and miss you so much. Xxxxxxx
March 29, 2016
March 29, 2016
Time moves on but it is lovely to have this opportunity to think of you and your warm, wonderful smile. xxxxxx
March 29, 2016
March 29, 2016
Happy birthday dad, got no words cos you know em, just tears, happy ones.....
March 28, 2016
March 28, 2016
Happy birthday dad - you would have been 93 today and still making the most of simple pleasures and loving life. Wish we were blowing out candles with you. Love you and miss you. Xxxx
July 28, 2015
July 28, 2015
5 years since you left us and it still doesn't seem real - the old saying you don't know what you've got until it's gone, couldn't be more true. Love and miss you more than ever Dad xxxxx
March 28, 2015
March 28, 2015
Uncle Tom, you are no longer with us but your spirit lives on in a family you can be very proud of. Hope you and my Dad are keeping up with your singing. Love
Marion xx
July 28, 2014
July 28, 2014
Where has the time gone, it seems like only a week ago Julie rang me from the hospital to give me the news, a day I will never forget, the saddest day in my life. Loved & missed by so many..... xxxxx
July 28, 2014
July 28, 2014
Four years on from losing you and missing you so much right now ... I was having a little cry in the garden the other day and a white feather floated down and landed nearby ... I like to believe it was you letting me know you are helping me through the challenge I face ... love you dad xxxxx
March 28, 2014
March 28, 2014
Been looking through pics of you today Dad ... and remembering your face and the sound of your voice so clearly made it feel like you are still with us ... love you xxx
July 28, 2013
July 28, 2013
3 years today since we lost you Dad and still doesn't seem real. It still feels as though there was some kind of mistake because you just loved life so much and we all still needed you here. I have to tell myself how lucky we were to have you as long as we did and I know you are watching over us still. Thank you Dad ... Love you Dad xxx
June 16, 2013
June 16, 2013
Another Fathers Day is here Dad so I'm sending you all my love today and thinking about you as I always do. I love you and miss you with all my heart xxx
June 15, 2013
June 15, 2013
Happy Father's Day Dad ... wish I could have a hug today xxxxx
March 28, 2013
March 28, 2013
How much I wish I was getting ready to come over to 198 perhaps with a new jumper for you Dad and a big hug and kiss to wish you a happy 90th birthday. I'd give anything for that. Miss you so much - wish I hadn't put my make up on before writing this. Love you with all my heart - but always feels as though you are close by. All my love to you Dad Sue xxx
March 28, 2013
March 28, 2013
Happy 90th Dad ... sitting here with mum talking about you and wishing you were here with us ... miss you more and more as time goes by xxxx
March 28, 2013
March 28, 2013
Blimey Grandad, 90 years since you were born! Wow!

Happy Birthday! Hope you're having a little singalong. Xxxx
March 28, 2013
March 28, 2013
Hi Uncle Tom,
A birthday thought, hope you are still walking and singing The Street where you live' with my Dad
Sending love and hugs xx
December 25, 2012
December 25, 2012
Think about you every day Dad and especially today. Know that you are looking down on us all. Love you with all my heart. xx
December 24, 2012
December 24, 2012
Hope you're enjoying Christmas with all your family Dad ... missing you from ours though ... xxxx
August 7, 2012
August 7, 2012
The 28th was a hard day in France - memories are very raw there. But finally able to get into the little village church and light a candle for you there - thinking of you posing for photos outside. I miss you so much, love you with all my heart. xxx
July 28, 2012
July 28, 2012
Two years since you left us Dad and I still can't fully accept it. When I close my eyes I can see your face and hear your voice so clearly ... I'll be watching the youtube videos of you singing today and I know I'll be smiling with tears running down my face ... Hope you're at peace and feeling our love wherever you are xxxxx
June 17, 2012
June 17, 2012
Happy Fathers Day, all you could ever want in a Dad, & it doesn't get easier with time xxxx
June 17, 2012
June 17, 2012
I think about you every day Dad - but especially today. I miss you so much. xxx
June 16, 2012
June 16, 2012
2nd Fathers Day without you but it's not getting any easier Dad ... miss you so much yet still can't believe you've really gone ... thank you for being the Best Dad In The World xxxxx
April 2, 2012
April 2, 2012
I miss you so much Dad - your voice and laughter is so clear in my head. Everyday I see your big smile, the one when I walked into the room and stood beside you without you knowing I was there - I can't bear you're not here. I still can't believe I can't have a chat with you whenever I like or see that smile or hear your voice and hug you tight. I love you xx
March 28, 2012
March 28, 2012
Happy Birthday Dad, miss you more than ever. Still King of the Road xxx
March 28, 2012
March 28, 2012
Happy Birthday Tom, hope you are having a good old sing song xx
March 28, 2012
March 28, 2012
Happy Birthday Grandad.We all miss you so much... xxxx
March 28, 2012
March 28, 2012
Happy Birthday Dad ... love and miss you more than ever ... still doesn't seem real ... wish I could give you a hug xxxxx
December 25, 2011
December 25, 2011
Our 2nd Christmas without you Dad ... I miss you every day but especially on a day like today ... Love you more than ever xxx
July 28, 2011
July 28, 2011
One year on and life has settled into a new routine ... everything is so different now without you ... I see men that remind me of you so often and sometimes as they walk towards me I can imagine it is you and my heart lifts for a few moments ... love and miss you so much Dad xxx
July 28, 2011
July 28, 2011
So hard to believe this day is here. 
Sadness so strong despite the year.
My tears have started breaking free
Oh Dad I wish you were here with me.
I love you, miss you so much. God bless xxxx
June 19, 2011
June 19, 2011
Fathers Day without you here is so very sad. Memories of how happy words in a card would make you - how you'd read them to Mum and say how lucky you were. I miss you so much Dad and love you so deeply. xxxx
June 19, 2011
June 19, 2011
Happy Fathers Day to one of the sweetest,kindest man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.XX
June 18, 2011
June 18, 2011
Happy Father's Day Dad .. although it won't be, without you, this year ... I love and miss you more each day xxxxx
May 28, 2011
May 28, 2011
To this day I often speak about my first job at 15 years old at FFWSP and of a lovely caring man called Tom who helped me immensely in training to be a compute operator. Always supportive , protective and guided me. You were a very kind man Tom .
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Recent Tributes
New
today
today
Happy Heavenly Birthday Dad! Love and miss you more than ever. I'd love to feel you stroking my hair ♥️♥️♥️
March 28, 2023
March 28, 2023
It would have been your 100th birthday today Dad. If you were here you’d still be too young for us to lose you. Love you so much ❤️
July 28, 2021
July 28, 2021
Eleven years since you passed Dad and I still don't fully believe it. I'm so grateful for the pictures and videos we can show to your great grandchildren who never had the chance to know you. I love and miss you more than ever Dad. ❤️❤️
Recent stories

From Tony Engleman (ex-colleague)

June 19, 2011

 We (Lionel Kaye and myself, we are cousins) often spoke about Tom over the years, and despite the years, working together with Tom is as clear as yesterday for me. My parents were very good, loving and supportive to me, and in fact were responsible for pointing me in the direction of the computer business. My mother had a small shop on the Kennington Road and my father was a clothing machiner in a factory, just to give you the background. Once I entered "the world of the office" they could not offer me the support that they would have wanted to, and often a work environment is not over friendly. What Tom did, and not just for me, was to bridge that gap and in a way act as a parent in the work place by encouraging us in the right way and never getting angry despite the fact that we were a bunch of 19 year olds typically, who did sometimes cross the line (there was a pub just 50 yards from the office!). Tom had his own excellent methods of teaching us and handling situations that went wrong from time to time in a positive way, where we were never made to feel bad about ourselves. The results were great for the company and great for us as individuals who constantly learnt from him ion matters of work and also of principles of life too. There was only good intentions from Tom and they benefited all.  There is even a song that came out in the late 60's that we always joked was Tom's song which was the Dave Bowie classic  "ground control to major Tom", and I always think of him when it occasionally comes on the radio.

Feeling just like my Dad

October 16, 2010

When we knew a tribute would need to be written for my Dad, both Julie and I wanted to talk about Dads childhood - though we had his wonderful account of Y Service and the war, neither of us had specific details to draw on other than things dad had told us about his very early years.  However, I was so sure that I had seen an account that dad had typed - but once every old envelope had been opened and every drawer investigated - there was nothing - I must have imagined it.  Yesterday, I was sorting out my own cupboard, old bills, magazines and stuff to chuck out.  I came across a big envelope and inside was the typed account I had remembered.  In fact it was a long letter written to our cousin Yvonne, our uncle Alec's daughter.  I am so so happy to have found it and can't wait to show Julie.  In it my Dad talks of his brothers and sisters, and of course his own Mum and Dad.  It was nice to read and sad to read all at the same time.  The passage when he speaks of his losing his own Dad, our grandad, was so touching and it showed me that he was feeling just like I am now - "I remember giving my Mum half-a-crown, which was all the money I had, towards the fare to go up North to help her come to terms with Dad's death.  As time passed, I missed my Dad more and more and I often wish, even now, that I could just talk to him" I wish that every day Dad, I love you.

Hurry Up

August 27, 2010

Some years ago dad had a mild stroke.  One side effect being a rather weak leg that slowed him down a bit. I went with him so see a consultant for a review of the stroke at St Georges and we spent most of the day there.  The consultant asked Dad to go along for a blood test in Laneborough wing, then for an X Ray in St james wing, somewhere else for another test of sorts and then to also go to the cardiac dept for an ECG.  He stressed that the ECg Dept closed at 5pm.  So off we went, got everything done and finally just had the ECG to get done - it was 4.55pm. Why I didn't think to find a wheelchair I will never know - but I raced along the corridors looking for the department with Dad trying desperately to keep close to me heels - a little in vain.  As he limped along behind I kept saying "Come on dad hurry up or we're not going to make it" so he did his best to speed up.  As he trotted along he simply burst out laughing as did I - it was just such a comical scene.  Poor old Dad trying to keep up with his determined daughter.  We made it on time! And couldn't stop laughing.  Me and dad have gone to the hospital together so many times, many for dads appointments and sometimes dad coming on mine to keep me company.  In every waiting room we've laughed about that day or just laughed about something thats tickled us that moment. Dad would always say that we'd get kicked out for appearing too well, people must be thinking "there's nothing wrong with them" - The last time I saw dad he brought up the memory of that dash around St Georges saying it always brings a smile to his face.  It does for me to.

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