Thomas John Huden

Back when i was a wee little tommy i remember stayin over night at my grandma louises with my cousin joey in her cozy wonderful abode in ballard. Early saturday mornin dad would show up and grab me out of bed and carry me downstairs and into his little brown toyota pickup (to this day i still remember the smell of inside his rig) We would leave grandmas and head down to old Adams News i would usually wake up on the way i was always anxious and excited to be goin to the shop with pops. We would pull up to the gate and he would hop out and unlock the huge gate on rollin wheels and he would pull it open. Then we would roll on through then i would grab the big old brown remote and open up the giant shop door. It was always dark and we would have to go through the shop and up the stairs through the metal door to the warehouse and on the right was the breaker panel were we would flick all the lights for the shop and a few lights that lit up parts of the warehouse. Then back into the well lit shop with the radio playin. I remember the smells of diesel, grease and dust as well as the sweet smell of the solvent tank i just loved it. He would then crank on the large overhead heater and fire up the air compressor. Usually there was a stepvan inside the shop ready to be worked on. All his tools were organized in there own drawers or compartments i knew almost were everytool that i knew the name of was located in the shop. When i wasint spending time screwin off in the warehouse i was right there with my dad handing him tools or parts or even cleanin parts in the solvent tank watchin him turn wrenches in tight spots (this is were i learned all my french language ) keepin him company as he worked on the rigs. I learned a lot from watchin him work on the big stepvans from mechanical to electrical he knew the dang rigs from nose to tail. He was not just the mechanic at this big news company he also did a lot of maintenance on the building troubleshooting and fixing electrical, plumbing, hvac systems.

I loved walkin through the warehouse smelling all the magazines and books as well as the smell of old dust. On the south side of the warehouse was a large magazine and book shredder called the baylor this machine was on a large conveyor belt were you would put all the junk mags and books on to be sent into the machine and they would grind to shreds. My old man worked on the dang thing all the time fixing and welding parts on the dang thing lol finally they got a brand new baylor one year and he never had to mess with it again. He was so excited when they got the new one up and runnin.

He also did work on the forklifts and i loved ridin on them with him i would hold onto the seat and the post ridin around with him in and around the warehouse. Then one day he decided to let me run the thing. Pretty hard to learn because there were lots of shifters and pedals. First he showed me how to work the forks up and down, tip up and down. Then he showed me how to steer and shift the thing through the gears. I got the thing in gear and started to go (he always reminded me that it steers in the rear) i got it movin good i looked and my old man he had a smirk on his face then i had a slight turn comin up and i turned a little to sharp for the thing and the dang thing tipped to one side almost sending us over but not quite he grabbed the wheel keepin us straight then i let off the clutch and we came to a stop i turned to look at him and his smirk was his angry look with his eyebrows pointing up i said sorry dad and he said "son we will try this another time when ya get your head out of your a&&". my old man taught me soooo much.

I have tons of memories with my old man and i will cherish all of them. He was a great man i am soo proud to have called him dad i am lucky i thank the lord eveyday for him and the amazing loving family he left me with i vow to do all i can to continue caring and loving the 4 wonderful and beautiful women and family he left behind and i am proud to be the one. . I love my old man soo much everyday is hard for me to wake up and start my day knowin i cant call him or see him. I think about him all the time even before his passing things i see or smell make me think of him when i have a good day or do something new i always kept in my mind ready to tell him all about it i was always excited to call my dad or see him to tell him about my smells or experiences. But i know now that he is in a amazing place with his mama and i will see them soon.

Tommy Jr

The year was 1968 and having just arrived on the shores of Ballard recently from the Fatherland I was trying to adjust to my new suroundings and american life. Being a little shy and not knowing anybody I went down to Gilman playfield to watch a little league baseball game. After the game much to my surprise one of the players from the Elks came over and started chatting with me, wanting to know who I was, what I was doing, and so forth. Next thing I know he was inviting me over to his house for some of his moms Lingoberry pancakes ( and oh Louise made some killer pancakes )That was Tom always making you feel welcome, making you feel part of the family. Needless to say that was the start of a great friendship that lasted 45 years with enough great memories to fill a bookshelve. God I'm going to miss that guy.  note: Like Rocky, Tom was also the"BEST MAN "at my wedding

Tom used to customize his Mustard-colored Chevrolet Blazer with overhead lights, winch(s), roll & tow bars, always checking out "4 Wheeler" magazine and other periodicals for the latest in cherrying out his RIG. One time he asked me if I wanted to go with him down to either Nelson Truck, or Sound Truck down on Westlake to check out some more cherry accessories he was hoping for.. At this time I had a 4WD 1975 Ford F-150 freshly bought off the lot at Bill Pierre in Lake City and had ZERO custom gear on my truck(money) and was new to this customizing game, so yeah, I thought I'd better check this out. We went into the Truck Store, browsed the aisles and Tom was chatting up the counter guys and I was getting ideas for my rig. As we climbed back in the Blazer, Tom was sitting there checking the latest gadget he just bought and I looked across the street and saw what I thought was kind of an unusual sight. Tom and I were both raised Catholic in the parish's of Ballard, him at St Alphonsus and myself at St. Johns. Well I pointed to the store across the street....." Catholic Supply" the sign said... and I asked him " What do you suppose they have in there"? He turned 90 degrees....zero hesitation.....looked me right in the eye...and replied "Pallets and Pallets of..Body of Christ" and we must of laughed for 5 minutes....and then I said "Yeah, can't ya just see the warehouseman"....."Hey, Joe get me down 5 cases of Body of Christ" and again we cracked up. Tom then said..."You know we got to go to confession for this" again more howling. Who thinks like this? Still warms my heart to this day. That what was so damn special about him, that he could ad-lib and improvise with the best of them.Laughter was the game, Tom was his name! Thanks. 

Reading these sweet memories are making my heart ache with pain and joy...... such bittersweetness.  Since we started this memorial site for dad, I feel that I can't rip myself away from it.  I have it as my homescreen on my phone and computer...and I notice I'm always drawn to it like a dang magnet, wanting to check it and read it over and over.  In some weird way when I get sad about my dad being gone....which is a lot.  I just want to get on this site... it makes me feel a little closer to him I guess.  Just reading all the sweet stories, seeing pictures...hearing Spirit in the Sky (on repeat, lol...I really need to add more songs or something...) I just miss my daddy.  So bad. I never thought loss could feel like this. I've/we've lost a lot of family in the past 12 years...but losing my dad......

There is just no words.

 Yesterday was a hard day for me. After church my husband took me and the kids down to the Ballard Farmers Market. Not really thinking he parked across from Covich/Williams...and of course I thought of dad, and I told my kids that Grandpa used to work there!  We strolled along the market and my hubby got me a very yummy, organic quesadilla filled with all sorts of tasty sauteed veggies, as I was eating it I thought of dad and kind laughed to myself.  I thought...there is no way in heck dad would choose this Organic Veggie Quesadilla filled with kale and carrots over the hot dog stand that was serving up some very succulant, juicy Polish Sausages with all the fixins... hehe. 

Still that wasn't the hard part...when we went back to the car, we parked next to the Salmond Bay Cafe, my husband asked me if it was any good, I said, " I don't know I've never been there, my dad would know"..... I cried hard all the way home.     Just little things like that are so hard.   Dad was my go to on EVERYTHING.. he knew how to cook any type of meat,  he knew exactly how to season it, he knew which resturants were good, then of course he knew exactly what kind of tires, filter, windshield wipers we needed for any of our cars... he knew how to fix anything.  Dad was our EVERYTHING.  Now he is gone.   My heart hurts.

Whittier,LoyalHeights, Sound View,NorthBeachand various points in-between. This was our territory.

 We were a pack that roamed the streets at night. And at some point we always ended up running, mostly away from another bigger and older pack. Tom was an intricate part of this group, he was the  alpha. He knew where to go and most importantly when to go.

I first ran into Tom in 5th grade. He was the only 5th grader I knew who could grow bushy sideburns and  a mustache. I quickly understood to always keep him in sight. Tom was our powerful left hander. His aim wasn’t the best but if a baseball, rock, snowball, apple, fire cracker or someone needed to be thrown he was our guy.

As everyone does, we got older, not more mature, just older. No longer did we need to run, we had  wheels. An old Merc, a Falcon, Randy’s Fairlane, (or maybe it was a galaxy) and Rocks monthly rotation of used cars for our transportation. Tom had the “Blazer” and it was cool! I was never in it when the  wheels left the ground but there are those who were. It was big, loud and with the top off you couldn’t  be in a better place.

As the years passed we spread out a little, Tom and Randy to the service, Stew playing basketball  somewhere, Rock to Wyoming, stick disappearing, reappearing then disappearing again, someone  always in Alaska fishing, and the rest of us going this way and that. But here’s the deal, we were bonded  forever. No matter where we were, how long we were away, or upset at each other we understood the  only thing that truly mattered on our journey of life is the company of those we chose to share it with, we chose well!!

As Julie found out. When we met our future wives, got married, bought houses, moved to different cities and raised our families. It was a given that the wives and families inherited us too. Whether for the good or bad it was just the way it was.

 Tom was unique, he had the gift. He was the one you went to for advice on your car, boat, or house  problems. He could hold a conversation across all generations and most of the time he would shun us  guys and go right to the parents, wives or kids.

I especially want to tell Julie I appreciated Tom so much for the kindness he showed towards Kristin and  my girls.

 He was our “ace” in the hole. He could keep a whole room entertained and all we had to do was sit back and laugh. Speaking of an “Ace” the one thing Tom couldn’t do was play cards. After one or two hands he would break off and go find someone more interesting to talk to or do.

 Sadly, days like this will come a little more rapidly as the years go by. We as a group will come to  understand what Julie and her family are going through and will have to come to grips with it. We're now  becoming grumpy old men, our disagreements are a little wider and really less important. Our favorite  German is getting a little angrier. Yet nothing can erase our memories of what we had and did and the ones were about to make.

 Tom will be missed. God got another Husky fan. I just hope he doesn’t mind Tommy doing the cooking at the tailgate.

 With Tom now looking over us I leave with this quote:

  ''Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there”.

Willy and I started dating Sophmore year of highschool. One day my father said to me "You know what Baby? The average Highschool romance only last 6 months." Here is dad walking me down the aisle after 6 years of dating Willy and he couldn't have been happier to give me away to him. I know Dad was proud that I didnt fall into that statistic that he said to me back in highschool because he really charished his and Willy's relationship. I'm so happy he was here to walk all three of his girls down the aisle. People say that when girls are looking for a companion they tend to look for a someone with the same qualities as their father and I believe I did. Like my father, Willy is handsome, caring, loving, funny and will make a wonderful father some day (hopefully in the next year or two. No rush Willy)

In late August of 1999, I was relocating back to California, had packed up the moving truck with my belongings,had the car trailer hooked up behind me, said my good-bys to co-workers and neighbors of the past 27 months in Central Indiana. I called Tom in Seattle and asked if he would accompany me in a drive across the counntry. I told him to go to Seattle-Tacoma Airport and get on a plane and I would pick him up in Denver. Tom at this time, a very rare time in his life, was between jobs and had the time to do this little adventure. I cruised at a very leisurely pace through Iowa and Nebraska, then dropped down into Colorado. Drove to the fairly new Denver International Airport, parked in the "oversized" vehicle lot and hiked to the terminal and gate. I met Tom at the gate and he was all smiles. I had arranged for him to fly stand-by on my United Airlines company "Companion Pass's" and he had received a business class seat and the service that accompanied that on the upper deck of a 747. To say he was excited about that was an understatement. As we pulled out of Denver and steered toward I-80 crossing through Wyoming, we were having a great time, chatting through all the events of our lives, our past jobs, his kids, my engagement, it was time to relinquish the wheel to him and with him being around trucks so long, I knew my slug paced driving was going to change. We crossed in to the state of Utah, passing by the Great Salt Lake and the speed of this 30ft. moving van trailing a car carrier with my Thunderbird on it began to increase. We were on the high desert of Utah and Nevada traveling at an amazing speeds, reaching 70, 80,  and I think sometimes tipping 90 miles an hour. I even asked at one point "Don't you think we're going a little too fast for this Rig". "Naw, we're doing fine" was his only reply. Down into Reno, where we stopped for the night, gambled a bit, ate a buffet meal and retreated to our rooms for some much needed rest.....we weren't 20 years old anymore! The next day we drove to Fairfield, California and dropped off some of my furniture at a storage space and finished the trip into San Francisco. As Tom and I pulled up to what would be my new home at my fiancee Carols house. I opened the front door ( I had a key) the home alarm was beeping at me. I attempted to enter to the code I had been given, as Carol was at work at the time. The beeping would NOT stop, re-entering the code again and again and Tom just stared at me with a sly grin, which I knew to mean..."Here's another fine mess you've got me into" and the home alarm went OFF.....WHOOP..WHOOP...WHOOP! We shut the door to the house, went down the stairs to the sidewalk to wait on the lawn for what we knew would be inquisitive, and possible armed neighbors and/or police. A police car pulled up in minutes, we held our hands in the air and waited for the officer to start his questions. We showed him ID's and called Carol from my cell phone to talk to the nice policemen. As the police drove off and Carol gave me the correct code...Tom and I just laughed, as we had so many times before,  and we had just added another memory to the pile. Carol and I wanted Tom to spend the evening, buy him a nice dinner and show him around the city of San Francisco the next day. But he asked if it would be ok to take a shower and maybe get a ride to the airport and fly out that evening. I realized, although he had only been gone from his home for 3 days, he was wanting to see his wife and children. We had a great time coming across the country and shared more treasured time and huge laughs.    note: Tom was the "BEST Man" at my wedding. The Lord blessed US with a great freind! 

Greg Barker was racing his Dad's Volkswagen bug around Soundview Playground on football and baseball fields( I beleive we used to call it "Rat Racing") and to my recollection Greg, Tom, Allan Sund, and Gordy Arnes were in the car and Greg goes off an approx.4 ft. embankment, somewhat semi-crashing the car, but still drivable. They get the car up to the parking lot where some of the rest of us kids come over and Tom and Al are assessing the damage and Greg's concerned that his father's going to end Greg's life that very evening due to the crashed car. But Tom and Al using all their auto body skills, which at this time in their lives amount to probably straightening out bike fenders, decide the hood of the car, CAN indeed be fixed! So with the hood in the open position and a bit crumpled, Tom and Al apply pressure to the front of the hood, and as the hood begins to to buckle nearly in half, as these VW hoods were a bit tinny at that time, gasps and chuckles begin to erupt from the surrounding teens. And Al and Tom are extremely apologetic, and start pulling the hood back out, and Greg stops them, and they get the hood somewhat closed looking worse that it did when they started. Tom was not in his prime as a mechanic quite yet!
Rest Well my old freind.     Rocky

It was 6th grade and I was thrilled to be going to pioneer farms for a field trip. The night before the field trip dad informed me he couldn't be a chaperone because something came up. I was so disappointed and sad but understanding. Later the next day at the field trip it was lunch time so I reached for my brown paper bag to see what my mom fixed me and realized something was different. Inside  the bag I found a gourmet pan seared hot dog croissant that only my father could have created. All though the combinated sounds weird the sandwich was amazing and I was so proud to tell my class mates that my dad made my lunch.  Thinking the sandwich was the best thing ever I was wrong. I reached back into the brown paper bag and found a letter from dad. He apologized for not being able to come on the field trip and he wished he was there with me. He could have packed me the grossest lunch ever and I would have still been proud to say my dad packed my lunch.

Every Saturday morning I would have to take and pick up work from the (Bon) Macy's now. This particular Saturday morning I neglicted to notice how much gas was in our Chevy mini van, anyway after traveling downtown and parking in the Macy's parking garage and taking care of business, I returned to the van and started out the parking garage and finally noticing that there was no gas in the van. So I decided to take Eliott Way home instead of the freeway because I had a better chance of finding a gas station. As I drove a few blocks down Eliott the van started chugging (you know the jerking of the car as it is running out of gas) I looked in the rear view mirror and to my great relief there was my darling Honey in his Adams News van right behind me, and there only yards ahead of me was a gas station!! I pulled in and Tom right behind me stopped and jumped out to fill up my tank with gas. All I could think of was a Knight in Shinning Armor!!!