Thomas A. Clarkson, P. Eng., passed away on Nov 6, 2016 in Brampton, Ontario.

Tom was born in Toronto on February 4, 1938. He graduated from Humberside High School where he played hockey, football, and established lifelong friendships.

Tom worked as a draftsman at Avro Canada on the CF-105 Arrow in the late1950s. With no experience, the potential employer challenged him to prove he could digest several technical textbooks over the weekend: he did and he got the job. Tom graduated from University of Waterloo in 1966 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After years at Ford and Whitman Publishing, Tom found his calling teaching at Humber College where he shared his passion for manufacturing design and efficiency. He retired in 1996.

Tom married Beverley Reid in 1964 and they moved to Mississauga where he fulfilled a dream of building the house in which he and Beverley would raise their three daughters, Diane, Susan, and Lori.

Tom was a talented piano player who taught himself to play like Jerry Lee Lewis, enlivening countless parties over the years. He was an avid bridge player and enjoyed regular poker games with friends. He was a voracious reader and loved history, stock trading, and hanging out over a cup to tea for lively conversation or - as he called it - “chewing the fat”.

Tom will be remembered for his larger-than-life smile, integrity, hard work, strong sense of honour and fairness, his delightfully wicked sense of humour, and his head-thrown-back laughter.

Tom is preceded in death by his first wife Beverley (d, 2000) and found love again with his second wife Lorraine Horgan whom he married in 2011 and whose care and companionship brought him much happiness.

Tom has left a long legacy of loved ones. He is survived by his daughters Diane with her husband Douglas Hamilton and their children Tyler and Keira of San Mateo, CA; daughter Sue and her sons Kelly and Blake of Fernie, BC, and his daughter Lori, her husband Steve Hellors and their children Shin, Ryder and Dylan of Vancouver, BC.

Tom is also survived by Lorraine, her sons and their families: Dan, Diana, Julia and Ben of Brampton; Rob and his wife Samantha and children Spencer and Cassidy of Bowmanville; and David, his partner Olga, and his children Andrew and Julia of London, ON.

Tom is also survived by his sisters Marie Wilhelm of Ottawa, Nancy O’Mahoney of W. Yorkshire, UK, and his sister-in-law Ellen Reid and her son Paul of Toronto as well as his many nephews, nieces, and cousins.

The Clarkson family extends its heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Burton Manor in Brampton.

Visitation will be on Thursday, November 10, 2016 from 6 p.m.- 9 p.m. at Turner & Porter (Neweduk Chapel), 1981 Dundas St. W. in Mississauga (just east of Erin Mills Parkway). A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday, November 11, 2016 at 11 a.m. at St. Christopher’s Roman Catholic Church, 1171 Clarkson Road N. in Mississauga.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.