Thomas Risley

September 30, 1947 – June 14, 2008 -Thomas Frank Risley affectionately called ’RIZ’ and his sister Kathy grew up in Sayville on Long Island, New York. The family lived on the Island until relocating to Florida while Tom was serving in Vietnam. Tom often reminisced about life in Sayville and of family cookouts on the Risley property. Both parents Tom and Cecelia worked in the Sayville school system where he attended until graduation from high school. The highlight of his high school years was soccer. His athletic ability made him news worthy more than once in the local Sayville and Suffolk County newspapers. Tom attended Arizona State University to Study Industrial Arts and continued to play soccer, showing skills as goalie and a passion for the game. He was selected by the professional New York General’s as 1st team goalie. However, knowing the draft would take him, he chose to enlist in the Army in April of 1969 and was stationed at Fort Hamilton, New York. Tom graduated from non-commissioned officer’s training school, with a rank of E-5. All too soon, he found himself in serving Vietnam. He rarely spoke about the time spent at war. Discharged honorably as a Sergeant in 1972 and receiving awards and commendations, he followed his family to Florida where he lived and worked for over 30 years. One of the things Tom found most interesting was History. He studied about the early travelers cutting their way to the West, the Civil War and gained extraordinary knowledge about WWII. He relished the daily newspaper always pulling out the sports section and reading it first. Tom managed several popular area restaurants including the Green Pepper and Maxell’s of Treasure Island. His favorite during the disco days was the Green Pepper, one of Pinellas County’s very first discos , where he was known as WGPR’s Disc Jockey …Mad Tommy Franklin, "spinning and grinning" the most popular songs. In 1978 through 1987, Tom was married and in 1979 had one son named Timothy. His small family lived in Georgia for a time, where he carried on his love of sports and soccer by coaching several girls’ soccer teams and little league baseball. When Tom, wife and small son returned to Florida he began to work at Iller’s Frozen Foods. Divorced in 1987, Tom moved on with his life and took his post marital financial responsibilities seriously. He deeply loved his son and made every effort to remain close to him. Throughout the years, as Tim grew, Tom supported him in many school events including band, art projects, and stage performances. Tim shared many aspects of his father’s personality and good looks. For many years, his "Cheers" was the Big Apple Bistro where he became part of the Big Apple Family and worked for many years until just before it closed. He made several lifelong friends during his time there. While employed at the Big Apple, he also worked for Cleaners Closet, a restaurant cleaning supply company located in St. Petersburg. Tom’s mother, Cecelia, survived her husband. He loved his mother and she adored her only son. As she began to age, he assisted his sister in her care and comfort. There were many celebrations, times spend around the table reminiscing and laughing about life on Long Island, and planning the next family gathering. It was a very sad loss for the family when she passed away in 2007. In 1998, Tom married his surviving wife, Linda. It was after this life-changing event that he began his career with Home Depot in St. Petersburg, FL as a sales representative. Assigned to the electrical department, his product knowledge grew, as did his opportunities. He led product-training classes, ordered store merchandise, and worked on numerous store projects. During his employment, he also enjoyed volunteering for the Home Depot Children’s Workshop. Over time, Samsco Services Inc., a Home Depot vender, recognized Tom’s abilities and hired him as their product representative in Home Depot. A position he loved and was very good at it. He continued with Samsco until forced by ill health to retire in November of 2005 as his battles with cancer first began. At the age of 57, Tom was embroiled in a struggle with Multiple Myeloma, a form of bone cancer, which was due to his exposure to Agent Orange while serving Viet Nam. Tom was never bitter and always showed extraordinary courage and determination to fight, though ultimately accepting the terminal nature of his illness. In addition to his professional careers, Tom enjoyed several other activities. For more than 10 years, he volunteered at the Taste of Pinellas benefiting All Children’s Hospital. Seasonally, he enjoyed Bucs and Cardinals games and yearly attended the Bay Area Renaissance Faires with friends and son, Timothy. He spoke fondly of time spent with friends and family. One of the things he derived immense pleasure from was working in his garage where he put to good use skills in construction and carpentry taught to him by his father. He loved working on projects and improvements to his home in Pinellas Park. No matter what Tom did, it was with enthusiasm, integrity, and honesty. He earned the respect of his employers, co-workers, and friends. Tom possessed a dry sense of humor that his close friends and family understood. He was a strong man with a tender heart, who loved life, his family and prayed for those "near and dear" to his heart. Not soon forgotten, Tom ’Riz’ cherished and missed by wife surviving Linda, son Timothy, his sister Kathy, and other remaining family members.