Tom,

You would be proud of your daughters.  They have grown up to beautiful mature women who are just great preople as well.  We all miss you and like a brother form a different mother, I wish you were here so I could get much needed advise as we continue the health journey.  Watch down on your girls, they are awesome.  I miss you bro. 

My dearest husband,

Thinking of you today and everyday.  I miss you and I love you, Tom!

 

Thinking of you this holiday season and missing you, Snorks.

I miss my best friend Tom.  I think about him daily.  I continue to have major health issues and I ask Tom for the strength to get better and be here for my family.  Tom will always be missed but never forgotten.

Larry 

I can't believe it's almost two years since I lost you, my beloved husband.  I think of you every single day.  This week has been extremely difficult for me as the 28th nears.  I have been in prayer for God to give me the strength.  I miss you, Snorks!!!

Back when Tom's daughters and mine were in soccer we were in a tournament in San Diego at a Marine Base.  We had an early game and we were doing our normal warm-ups and I was completely in another world strategizing walking across the field with my head down looking at my notes.  Well, as I was walking across the field, Tom comes running up to me and puts his arm around my shoulder and says 'Larry, you almost got your rear end kicked in by a bunch of Marines'.  To my amazement, at a certain timeframe they played a military song that as soon as it came on, all the soldiers stopped what they were doing and saluted the flag.  What did Larry keep doing?  Walking with my head down in total oblivian.  Uggggg..........

Tom could not contain himself in laughter as Tom told me all the soldiers were cursing me out left and right as I was showing disrespect for the song.  I had no clue, did not even hear it and as soon as Tom told me what happened, I looked around and saw alot of very mean looks toward me from our fine men and women in uniform.  I also heard a few choice words my way as Tom walked me back to the sideline as my bodyguard. LOL  

I have never been so embarrassed and mortified in my life and I have never seen Tom laugh so hard in my life (you really had to be there to truly understand the scope of my fopa).  I can laugh about it now, but Tom really came to my aid without me knowing it.  Needless to say, the entire team along with Tom and I got a great picture with the troops at the end of the tournament.  They all had a good laugh at my expense and Tom and I spoke of this one event on many occasion's as he knew how bad I felt and how funny it ended up.

On another note, Tom loved to take pictures and my family and I have some that he took that we will treasure forever.  Tom was a talented, smart, kind and gentle man.  Our entire family thought of Tom as a member of our family.  We should all be so lucky to have a friend like Tom in our lives.  

It was the Parker’s Car Rallye and Sandy and Tom were newly engaged and as everyone who has run the car rallye knows it is “challenging on any relationship”.  Sandy was in it to win! 

 I stood on the curb watching as she and Tom speed through a bunch of clues.  One clue was in Spanish and it read:  "Turn right at your first opportunity past 'Valle Verde'."   Tom and Sandy must have driven for an hour to find “Valle Verde” and if you have ever driven the car rallye there are tricks to the clues.  They were to turn right after the sign Green Valley.  Instead, they indeed found Valle Verde and turned right and got hopelessly lost. 

When I next saw Tom he was grinning from ear to ear and said “You would have thought I would have figured out the clue in my own language”.  That is Tom!  What a blessing Lenny and I have had knowing both Tom and Sandy. 

Tom Cossio and I worked together for a long time…

Andy Harber, fellow employee of The Boeing Company

Tom Cossio and I first met in the Engineering Test and Evaluation laboratories in Long Beach, California.  Tom was a test conductor for the TA4J Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) that I was fortunate enough to work with him as his technician. The year was 1986.  Tom and I enjoyed a relationship that would continue in the lab for the next 10 years.  Tom was one of the engineers that showed leadership promise and we seemed to mirror each other’s promotion path, him in the “white collar” world, and I more toward the “blue collar” environment.  But the difference in our backgrounds did not keep us from being close in working together during some very challenging times.  As our old boss, Bob Zimmerman said: “breaking a wing early makes you famous…not very popular, but famous.”  The stress that our “fame” brought us only created a closer bond as the differences in our background was invisible during those times and for the rest of our relationship.  Tom continued to be a leader in whatever he did.

We drifted apart slightly during the production years.  Tom continued to excel to director in the manufacturing quality organization . . . a good fit for him, since he was such a top quality guy.  Just last week before his ascension, found us chatting in his office about plans for development of a new aircraft and Tom was excited to see the possibility of it starting before the two of us would retire.  I miss Tom already.  There is no doubt in my mind that Tom left this world a better place than when he entered it.   His area of influence is richer now and has seen its “quality quotient” increase due to his character, knowledge and belief that working together is the right thing to do no matter what your background is.



  

TA-4J Service Life Extension Program – Full Scale Fatigue Test Setup (circa 1986)

So, Tom & Sandy were visiting us on a Saturday afternoon last summer...we were babysitting our granddaugther Gwen, who was five at the time.  We were walking around the pool/BBQ area getting ready to cook dinner when Gwen said, "Hey!  There's a frog in the pool!"  Grandpa looked quickly, but didn't see anything (he ws getting the BBQ ready for grilling)...Grandma didn't see anything either (she needs new glasses!).  But...Tom...he looked and saw a tiny frog in the deep end of the pool.  He said, "Gwen, you're right, there is a frog in there!  I'm going to get him out and then we'll put him in the creek."  Gwen squatted down by the edge of the pool and patiently waited while Tom scooped the poor thing out with the pool net.  Whoopie!  The little guy was alive and hopping!  Tom put it carefully in two plastic cups and gave it to Gwen, who was taking her responsibility very seriously!  Tom then scooped up Gwen (who was so intent on the frog in the cups she wasn't watching where she was walking!) and carried her to the fence at the back end of our property.  I followed behind...once we were at the creek bed, Tom said "OK, Gwen, ready??  Let him go!"  And Gwen released the lucky creature who hopped away.  She was so proud to be the "frog saving girl" that day!  And that is Tom in a nutshell...very observant and and a careful listener.  He knew Gwen was serious.  And he knew how to make her feel a sense of responsibility for that frog and how to make her feel proud of her good deed.  That is the spirit of Tom!