Thomas ‘Thom’ Eugene Allen
1967 ~ 2016 – Father, GrandFather
US Marine , Geek, Mentor, Friend…
Thom is a nerd, a geek, a father, mentor a US Marine. These are not just words, but as a matter of fact this is who he is. I met Thom not by chance but because of the geek in me, I was writing wordpress plug-in patches for podpress. I started my twitter journey when it was launched, twitter was new and exciting, I could network with more geeks. I met Thom a Conduit in Utah (An author convention), when I introduced myself as Jeff Norris, his comment was ‘are you the same @jeffnorris’ on twitter. Indeed I was.
After our first conversation I knew that Thom was passionate about everything he touched. From WordPress blogging platform, to writing software, photography, and Podcamp SLC. A PodCamp is a geek meet-up where you can attending tracts with other geeks. The first year my sons came with me, and still remember how much energy Thom had. The next Podcamp, I did a 40 min crash course on podcasting on a budget, I was scared to death. Thom walks in to ensure I am thanking the sponsors and how things are. He was blunt, he was cool and it was awesome! Such a hard ass Geek!
Over the years I have known Thom, I considered him a mentor. He helped me in a dark time (which I haven’t talked about until today), where I was struggling with my community on my website. Thom met with me during lunch to talk shop and share idea. This was echoed by many of his family and friends during his memorial service today (26-Apr-2016). I didn’t realize it until recently how many people in common I have met because of Thom, and how his influence will last forever.
It hurts to know that over 2 years ago, Thom blurted out that he won’t be here for the next Salt Lake comiccon. After more than 2 year that in itself was amazing he was strong to ensure the fight of the cancer that would be his exit from this mortal world. Even to the last weeks of his mortal life he was and is Thom.
One of Thom’s close friends Bob Jones quoted Thom saying: ‘I wonder what’s going to be like’. I know that even at deaths door, Thom wanted to learn more!
I hope his family knows how much Thom meant to me and my family. May you rest in peace, until me meet again..
Captain America logo. Us marine logo
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– Jeff (Mr Hnack) @jeffnorris farewell you big geek @thomallen Love you!.