We mourn the passing of our beloved Tom Sacks, after a long decline with a neurodegenerative condition. Since 2017, Tom and his wife Barbara have resided at Narrows Glen / Cogir at the Narrows in Tacoma, where they made many good friends. Barbara cared for him during this time, with the support of compassionate care staff. She wheeled him around the community making sure he had plenty of opportunities for socializing. He always had a smile for everyone. For the last half year, Tom was in the kindly hands of The Gentle House Adult Family Home.

Tom was born in Michigan and moved to Buffalo, NY as a child. He was the younger of two sons, and played hockey and football in high school. He is known to have been able to get out of trouble with his charming smile!

Tom is a self-made man. He began his career as a draftsman with a two-year Associates degree from Erie County Tech in Buffalo, and ended his career at the top of his profession, directing multi-million projects domestically and internationally. His career took him from Buffalo to Connecticut, and then to Europe where they lived in the Netherlands for 8 years, to South Carolina, and then back to the Netherlands for another decade. In the latter part of his career, Tom's work included large projects overseas.

Tom married young in 1960, as people often did back then, and together with Barbara they had four children (two girls and two boys) by the time he was 26. He took his family to the Netherlands to live in the 1970s. On holidays, they visited many countries throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. He was an active father, tobogganing and ice skating in Connecticut, and coaching his sons’ baseball and flag football teams in Holland. Always the family man, he put all four children through college and stayed involved in their life journeys. As empty nesters, Tom and Barbara returned to Europe where he continued work and travel until retirement.

They lived many years enjoying ocean life and golfing, including hitting two holes-in-one at Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Later he and his wife divided their time between Florida and Tacoma, WA to live near family.

Tom is survived by his wife Barbara; their four children – Denise, Laura, John, and Jeffrey – and spouses, who are spread between Tacoma, California, New Jersey and British Columbia, Canada; and their six grandchildren – Simran Saund, Helena Smith, Kara Smith, Thomas Sacks, Bridgette Sacks, and Reed Sacks – who he doted on during their young and impressionable years.