Norman Davis on Thom's wake

The wake on Sunday was a marvelous tribute to our hero Thom O'Hair. Kudos to the producers--I don't even know all the names, but Tim and Billie, Dave Bob, Bix and all who contributed, thanks for a great sendoff.

The wake was held in the Firehouse at Ft. Mason, right on the edge of the Bay. Tim put about 150 photographs of Thom on slides and projected them on the wall during the proceedings. Some video of Thom was also shown.

Most of us didn't get to hear the radio broadcast of the event (88.3) put together by Dave Bob, Bix, Greg McVicar, Buzz, Dave and others, but I hope that highlights will be made into a CD available to anyone who wants it.

Food and booze were great, also the comestibles in the true O'Hair style. Various speakers talked about their experiences with Thom and all were unaminous in thinking that he was one of the most dynamic and interesting characters who ever signed on.

 

After the speeches,  we schmoozed for a while (That Liberty Ale is good stuff . . . thanks Richard.) I surfed from one group to another, listening and contributing Thom stories, mostly funny or scary.

At 3:45, we came out to the waters edge, where Tim fired a rocket carrying Thom's ashes into space. At a thousand feet or so, the rocket ejected a canister with a parachute which gently carried his last remains down to the water and into the deep.

It was a perfect ending for this outrageous man's life. There was silence for a moment when the ashes touched the water and I swear I could hear Thom's hands rubbing together, the way he did when he was really excited about something.