Obituary for Thomas E Ford
Thomas Edmund Ford was born September 21,1929 to Helen Anne (Drumm) and (Jeremiah) Joseph Ford, and grew up in Arlington, MA.
An extraordinarily curious kid by nature, Tom became particularly interested in physics and chemistry at the age of 13. He created a chemistry laboratory in his basement and spent hours poring over textbooks at the library, then running experiments at home, which his mother somehow never really wised up to. Whether generating plasma using homemade hydrogen and spare battery parts, building a working jet engine, constructing a Wilson cloud chamber to observe cosmic rays, or investigating incendiary materials, his thirst for knowledge was unquenchable. This fascination with science lead to his employment at age 14 as a lab assistant in the Food Technology Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became deeply involved with the lab, which lead to his admission to MIT, much to the astonishment of the administration of Arlington High School, where they had his report cards and penmanship samples on file. Tom went on to earn a B.S. in Food Technology at MIT in 1951, of which he was extremely proud. Tom was very active in the Outing Club while at MIT. He also enjoyed square dancing and folk dancing. He hitchhiked to Stowe, VT most winter weekends during college to ski and sleep in a snow cave (since he couldn’t afford both a lift ticket and lodging at the same time while in college).
Tom worked for Kraft Foods as a food engineer from 1951-1954, then served in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corp as a meat and dairy hygiene inspector from 1954-1956 at Ft. Belvoir, VA. While skiing in West Virginia during his enlistment, Tom met his match and the love of his life, French Canadian Gaetane Michon. It didn’t take long before Gaetane was joining Tom in snow caves, skiing, spelunking, mountain climbing, rock climbing and backpacking.
Tom and Gaetane married in 1956 in Ottawa, Ontario. They welcomed son Peter in 1957 and daughter Renee in 1961 and lived in Arlington and Winchester, MA.
Tom was very involved in the Boy Scouts of America, beginning as a Cub Scout in 1938. Tom served for many years in a variety of positions in the Scouts, including staffing the Wood Badge leadership program 12 times, serving as the Vice President and then the President of the Minuteman Council. He was honored to receive the Silver Beaver Award and the Silver Antelope Award for his exceptional character and service to Scout Youth, as well as being inducted into the New England Scouting Hall of Fame.
Tom served on the National Ski Patrol for over 40 years. He greatly enjoyed teaching First Aid and mentoring Junior Patrollers while weekend patrolling at Okemo, VT, until 1996 when a severe hip injury ended his skiing career.
Tom made his living as an inventor and was very passionate about food safety. He launched his business, Trans World Services, in 1962, and manufactured sandwich packages and disposable food thermometers for over 50 years.
Tom was preceded in death by Gaetane in September 2019, and is survived by sister Jean Kleinschmidt, son Peter Ford, daughter Renee Ford, granddaughters Heather and Raven, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Tom was especially proud of his granddaughters.
In lieu of flowers, Tom requested that donations be made to the Boy Scouts of America in his name.
A graveside ceremony and burial will be held on Saturday 12/19/20 at Wildwood Cemetery, Winchester, MA at 10 am.
An extraordinarily curious kid by nature, Tom became particularly interested in physics and chemistry at the age of 13. He created a chemistry laboratory in his basement and spent hours poring over textbooks at the library, then running experiments at home, which his mother somehow never really wised up to. Whether generating plasma using homemade hydrogen and spare battery parts, building a working jet engine, constructing a Wilson cloud chamber to observe cosmic rays, or investigating incendiary materials, his thirst for knowledge was unquenchable. This fascination with science lead to his employment at age 14 as a lab assistant in the Food Technology Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became deeply involved with the lab, which lead to his admission to MIT, much to the astonishment of the administration of Arlington High School, where they had his report cards and penmanship samples on file. Tom went on to earn a B.S. in Food Technology at MIT in 1951, of which he was extremely proud. Tom was very active in the Outing Club while at MIT. He also enjoyed square dancing and folk dancing. He hitchhiked to Stowe, VT most winter weekends during college to ski and sleep in a snow cave (since he couldn’t afford both a lift ticket and lodging at the same time while in college).
Tom worked for Kraft Foods as a food engineer from 1951-1954, then served in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corp as a meat and dairy hygiene inspector from 1954-1956 at Ft. Belvoir, VA. While skiing in West Virginia during his enlistment, Tom met his match and the love of his life, French Canadian Gaetane Michon. It didn’t take long before Gaetane was joining Tom in snow caves, skiing, spelunking, mountain climbing, rock climbing and backpacking.
Tom and Gaetane married in 1956 in Ottawa, Ontario. They welcomed son Peter in 1957 and daughter Renee in 1961 and lived in Arlington and Winchester, MA.
Tom was very involved in the Boy Scouts of America, beginning as a Cub Scout in 1938. Tom served for many years in a variety of positions in the Scouts, including staffing the Wood Badge leadership program 12 times, serving as the Vice President and then the President of the Minuteman Council. He was honored to receive the Silver Beaver Award and the Silver Antelope Award for his exceptional character and service to Scout Youth, as well as being inducted into the New England Scouting Hall of Fame.
Tom served on the National Ski Patrol for over 40 years. He greatly enjoyed teaching First Aid and mentoring Junior Patrollers while weekend patrolling at Okemo, VT, until 1996 when a severe hip injury ended his skiing career.
Tom made his living as an inventor and was very passionate about food safety. He launched his business, Trans World Services, in 1962, and manufactured sandwich packages and disposable food thermometers for over 50 years.
Tom was preceded in death by Gaetane in September 2019, and is survived by sister Jean Kleinschmidt, son Peter Ford, daughter Renee Ford, granddaughters Heather and Raven, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Tom was especially proud of his granddaughters.
In lieu of flowers, Tom requested that donations be made to the Boy Scouts of America in his name.
A graveside ceremony and burial will be held on Saturday 12/19/20 at Wildwood Cemetery, Winchester, MA at 10 am.