Thomas Cowley Sr. was one of seven children. He had three brothers and four sisters. Tom was born in Nampa Idaho just prior to the great depression. The family lived a comfortable life until the crash of 1929.

Tom Cowley Sr.'s father (Grandpa Cowley} was a building contractor before that fateful day. As with many working class families, the Cowley's lost everything. They spent the better part of the next 10 years moving from place to place. They lived in old barns that Grandpa would convert to a living space for the family. Tent living was also part of their story as it was for many American families. At times, all they had was carried in and on the old Packard. I never heard my dad complain about how difficult it was, but we all know it was truely difficult. The whole family worked at farming.  Picking cotton was the worse from what I could gather. It has been said by several family members, that Grandpa Cowley could grow anything. I have heard it said with a serious look and tone, he could put a dead twig in the ground and make it grow. He also shared his knowledge of building with my father. However, Grandpa was not mechanical and didn't even like driving those metal mules called automobiles. My father, Tom Sr. was the mechanic and started repairing washers, pumps, cars and tractors by ten years old. As he grew older and stronger he put his hand to most every endeaver that presented itself with great success. When WWII broke out my dad enlisted in the navy. He was in basic for only two weeks before shipping out. He served on the USS Oakland and the USS South Dakota. My father was reluctant to speak about the war, as were many who experienced so much death and destruction. I was able to pull some information out and he spoke of some terrible battles between the Japanese and American fleets. The ships he served on were shot up so badly on several occasions, they had to limp back for major repairs. The reason men served on more than one ship was due to the extent of repairs required and time to make them. While a ship was being rebuilt the men would be transferred to a useable ship and sometimes back again. Tom Sr. was wounded twice during his service. Once with a bullet from a Jap Zero, and another from shrapnel of the ship being shot out from under them. He spoke of these things when prodded as if it were a simple matter. No drama! By the way, Rudine his wife of more than 60 years, "My mom" was a welder during the war. She worked on building and repairing the ships these brave men used to set our country into its current world leadership position. well I guess the other branches of the service may have had a bit to do with that as well.

After the war, he and my mom met while working. He was a delivery driver for a Dairy in Palo Alto called "Peninsula Creamery". She, my mom a waitress in a restaurant he serviced. They both worked Four day weeks. They were able to wear out a few cars traveling on three day weekends. They managed to see much of  the countryin just a few years. They had a truly great love affair. My mother's child hood was very rough. She lost her parents and was raised to age 15 by an aunt. That family struggled from day to day, and by age 15 my mom set out for California on her own. She was a very strong and determined woman. She and my father both worked hard through out there marriage to provide for my sister and I. Both had success in working up into better paying jobs and provided a very comfortable and loving home. The last ten years of their careers were the best. My Mother had been working in wafer fab in the emerging Semi- Conductor market. Dad had retired from the creamery and was elected to be a business agent for the Teamster Union. He took great pride in fair and prosperous negotiations for both his members and their employers.

These two never met a stranger and gave generously of themselves with a host of friends. They bowled together and separately in leagues around Sunnyvale. Many of the teams they bowled on went to and won tournaments, not just local but all around California. Both out lived most all of their friends and clung to their 60 plus years together as the treasure it was!

There are not enough words to describe these two awesome people.

The world is just a little less with thier passing.