Thomas Otto Breitling

My brother Thomas was born when I was almost four years old. We had just moved back to Mississippi from Honduras for a few months and stayed there until Thomas was nearly a year old before returning to Honduras for several years. Some of my earliest memories of Thomas are from our time in Honduras.

We lived in a couple of different houses in La Lima. The last one was two stories with a ground floor that had very smooth concrete floors. Once, when our parents were out of town for the weekend and we were staying with the household servants, we decided those smooth concrete floors would make a great skating rink if we poured salt on the floor and slid around in our socks. Needless to say the idea was not approved by anyone and we got in lots of trouble for the mess we made.

We moved back to Mississippi soon after our sister Claudia was born. Thomas loved rambling around on our Grandmama Clark’s farm that was adjacent to our house—visiting the dairy barn, climbing around on the silo and enjoying all the cousins that came in and out on a regular basis.

Our family moved to Colorado Springs in 1954, where Thomas was introduced to the west—the mountains, snow, ice skating and a different way of life than we had been used to—everything western. This was where Thomas started elementary school. And we added a new baby brother, Robert, to the family.

A few years later, 1957, we moved to Denver, and added our youngest brother, Richard, to the clan. It was about this time that Thomas first became aware of Elvis Presley and became an ardent fan.

Thomas developed many interests over the years, cartooning being one that led to an associate’s degree in graphic arts. Along the way he held a wide variety of jobs, including motorcycle mechanic, specialty knife shop owner, and graphic artist for gaming machines. But art was his first love. We could always depend on Thomas to produce a unique hand drawn birthday or Christmas card.

Thomas was a deep thinker and loved family, but he was also independent and chose his own path through life. We will miss him.

When I was a sophomore at Lake County High in Leadville, Colorado I wanted to go the Homecoming dance with 2 of my girlfriends. In those days you were expected to attend with a date and no one had asked us.
Since Tom was a graduate of the school he was allowed to attend and he and two of his friends were our "dates" that evening. I knew that Mom had likely had a hand in making that happen, as she often did, orchestrating things behind the scenes. We had a great time, We got to dress up and there was no pressure since we were just there to dance and have fun! Tom was a good sport!

Being 6 years older than me, Tom was my hero growing up. I copied everything he did, including trying to wear his shoes and shirts. I flopped around the house like a clown, thinking I was cool like Tom.
After we grew up, I used to drive to Leadville and then Montrose Colorado to visit him. Visits mainly consisted of drinking beer, smoking and cruising around town. Big fun at the time!
When Tom moved to Utah he lived with me and Richard. Tom and I worked at the Harley Davidson shop which provided a whole 'nother' level of people we met and enjoyed time with. We had a crazy, party filled 18 months until Tom met Carol and our apartment was torn down to build a bank.
As families grew, along with distance geographically, time spent together was less and less, but I visited when I was in Reno for business, and Tom came to Salt Lake for a few of the family parties we held. As always, looking back, I wish I had had a few more visits with him. I always admired his art, his easy laugh, and his sense of humor.

Tom was my brother in law for some years when he married my sister Carol. He was always kind to me. His family treated me well. I remember his mom's soft southern accent. Tom loved his son and that was so important. Rest in peace Tom. You are missed.

Mesquite Burgers and Cheesecake! I have a Fond Memory of Tom & Carol and Clint when they lived in California. Kerry, Claudia, Bryan, Alicia and I would regularly have potluck meals at Tom & Carols house. Sometimes Richard would also join us. The backyard had a thick wall of bamboo growing along the fence line. Clint and I would go back there and it felt like we were exploring in a Jungle! Frequently Tom would BBQ Burgers and Hot Dogs. I remember seeing a container of water with little broken pieces of wood soaking in them that smelled kind of funny. At the time I could not understand the significance of why these being sprinkled onto the charcoal was a big deal. But I remember the grown ups touting the bold flavor of these Mesquite Burgers. I also remember people making a big fuss about something called Cheesecake. Also a foreign sounding food as a kid. I tried all these things and more at these gourmet affairs and learned to appreciate them. I have fond memories of these times gathered together and enjoying time with family!

One Memory I have of Tom is when I was a Young Boy about 12 years old. He was running Edgeware Cutlery in the Vallco Mall. One of my first Pocket Knives I got there a Swiss Army Knife Deluxe Tinker! He enjoyed Movies like Rambo and knives in general. I also loved knives and how useful they were for carving sticks or fixing things with the other tools. Tom also followed the rule if you ever gave a Knife as a gift that he would include a Penny and self addressed envelope so that you were technically "buying the knife" to avoid the superstition that if you gave someone a gift of a knife that it might cut the friendship between the two people. I still remember the twinkle in his eye when he would be admiring the craftsmanship of a particular knife in the display case, taking it out and describing the grade of steel or material the handle was made of before passing it to you to take a look at it. Many Fun Memories going to the Mall and getting to visit him there at the Knife Store!

I have so many great memories of my big brother.
I remember one summer when we lived in Denver he worked for our neighbor at his green house flower business.
He bought a Vespa scooter with the money he earned. He was so proud of that!