Obituary of Thomas John Gedemer

Thomas J Gedemer: Born April 22, 1937 in Racine, WI

Deceased January 3, 2021 in Tucson Arizona

Scientist, vanguard, renaissance man, firebrand, ruthless truth seeker, encyclopedia, author, fiercely dedicated husband, and too many damn other things to list…

It is patently impossible to encapsulate a life such as Tom’s in an obituary, short of writing a novel. Trying being futile, we will instead share just a few things that help define his life and legacy:

Son: of William and Marietta

Husband: of Kathie (ne: Buehler) for 60+ years

Brother: of James (deceased)

Father: of Terence, Timothy and Melissa

Grandfather: of Erinn, Cameron, Brynn, and Bryce

Beloved Father in law

Analytical Chemist:  Worked for S&C Electric, Chicago, IL for 20 years.   Director of his own laboratory and three others. Tom spent the majority of his retirement Tutoring students from grade school to college level.  This gave him great satisfaction and pride! 

Member of the Great Decision Discussion Group, discussing current events around the world.

Environmental Champion: of our world

Manager / Mentor: of too many to list

Reader: of everything humanly possible - of course we had monthly Chemical Engineering journals sent to the house… in French.

Author: of science fiction 

Thinker: of philosophy and history

Student: of three languages, and everything

Sports Enthusiast: fast pitch softball pitcher, tennis oddball, Packer fan to the end

Innovator: Somehow as a leftie, sorted out how to write with quill and fountain pen without smearing.

:Dewey decimal system wasn’t good enough, so made his own cataloguing system of his 3500+ volumes of books and     thousands of articles

Music Lover: Classical music or Gregorian chants were blasted in the living room Sundays at noon sharp – music was a lifelong passion of his, and this was also his unique (and effective) method of waking hungover teenagers

Handyman: well, he did try…

Musician: he really tried this too, but...

Giver: of his time to tutor math students, to be a Big Brother, to help the less fortunate

Humorist: Loved to find humor in life, and in particular, the sarcastic, morbid and dark

Cultural Ambassador: Lifelong cultural exchange with French, Australian and South African families. The Vautey family being our most cherished. 

Wearer: of odd socks because it was too dark in the morning when he dressed and he had no idea what socks he was putting on (didn’t much care what others thought).  This later became his version of a fashion statement.

Selfless: Only concerned with others in the face of his own mortality...

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