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Equitable's Senior of the Month < Back to Archive

Thomas Vaughan

March 2010

"Detailing History"

Ahhh, all the great moments in history – but in all actuality, those significant moments would be nothing, without someone to dig deep and detail all the noteworthy events. Luckily for us, there are those hard working historians among us, and Thomas Vaughan is one of them.

Thomas J. Vaughan was born on October 13, 1924 in Seattle, Washington as the fifth child in a family of seven. Growing up his older brothers organized him into the hard facts of life, which became all too real when the Great Depression swept across the US in 1929. His family fell victim to the economic times, leaving them with very little and forcing Thomas to work while attending school. During school he worked in the docks in Longview, which was a big lumber town, and took his turn at the Weyerhaeuser paper mill. Thomas looks back now and remembers “In those days, we were very pleased when we found a job for $0.55 per hour.”

In 1942, Tom enlisted in the Marine Corp just before the mass of war began. He was called for duty in 1943 and hovered on the edge without ever going into action. At the time he was very unhappy he wasn’t out there, but recognizes it now as a blessing in disguise. Just before he was about to get out of the Marines, Tom was injured in officer training and after a long hospital stay, he returned back to Seattle.

His mother was happy to have him home safe, but he was ready to get back out in the world. Shortly after returning home, Tom left for New Haven, Connecticut to study History at Yale University. He graduated in 1948 and moved north to Alaska to work in the oil fields. It only took a little while for Tom to realize that the oil business wasn’t for him and he headed went back to school at The University of Wisconsin, Madison.

On his first day of class, Tom walked into the post office to drop off a letter to his parents when he bumped into Elizabeth, aka Sherry. He was shy at first, tried to lay down a few plot lines, but they eventually started dating. She went off to Europe after graduation, but returned and the two got serious. Tom and Sherry were married in June 1951 and celebrated with a large wedding in Madison, Wisconsin.

Since their wedding, Tom and Sherry have managed to have successful careers and a family that keeps expanding. They started out with four children of their own, but as the children grew – they added 10 grandchildren to the family album. One of the best memories Tom has with his family is when they took the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Russia. It took all of Tom’s financial resources to get them around the world, but they managed to do it and loved every minute of it.

Russia is just one of the many stamps in Tom’s passport. His love of history and hard work allowed him to take his work on the road, traveling across all continents and digging deep into the history of the world. His travel experience and research has contributed enormously to the general censuses – leading him to be decorated by Queen Elizabeth and recognized by the commander of the British Empire and Russian Academy of Sciences.

At 85, you would think that Tom has slowed down, but you would be wrong. He makes it a point to do a little something every. He is in a profession that allows him to work and he plans on keeping himself and his mind busy, until he can’t possibly do it anymore.

Tom we celebrate you, your hard work and the contributions you have made to our history. Thanks for being a part of the Equitable Family.

ByLine: Hailey Gee, Equitable Resolutions