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Tom Cummings

Pre-Written Obituary

DRAFT: Jan 31, 2021

 

Thomas Lee Cummings of Pittsford, New York died on TK. 

(I don't mind pre-writing my obituary, but I'll need a little help with that date.)

 

I was born in Ithaca, New York in 1953 at the hospital where my mother Jane Powers Cummings worked as a nurse. My father Gordon Cummings was then a graduate student and soon to be a professor at Cornell University. 

 

When I was a youngster, my parents, my brothers Greg and Dan, my sister Molly and I lived in King Ferry, NY. We had a lot of fun and I recall those early years with great fondness, but I did not realize until years later how very fortunate I was.

 

I graduated from Southern Cayuga Central High School and then, in 1975, from Cornell where I began to learn how much I would never know and where I made friendships that endure to this day. Through the years I've remained an active Cornell alumnus.

 

My career in Rochester, New York was as a writer, producer, director in advertising and corporate media. I enjoyed working with talented people at many area businesses and organizations. For most of my work life I was the president and sole full-time employee of Cummings Creative, Inc. 

 

The single best idea I ever had was to ask Beverly Anne Ludke to marry me. We enjoyed each other's company whether we were traveling the world or relaxing in the sunroom of our old farmhouse doing the Times crossword. I always tried to tell Beverly how much I loved her and how she was the source for every good thing in my life. If you see her please remind her how much she meant to me.

 

Beverly and I are both extremely proud of our son Brian. He is as smart, funny, and kind a man as you're likely to meet.

 

Some may remember me as a parishioner at St. Louis Catholic Church in Pittsford, where I enjoyed serving as a lector for many years. Even as a young man, people complimented me on my speaking voice, which I occasionally used as a professional voice talent. It was a gift. 

 

Also from my earliest days I was encouraged in my artwork by family, friends, teachers, and other artists much more talented than I. The result was a lifelong practice of creativity. A word of encouragement to a child can go a long way.

 

My family history research reminds me that I was predeceased by many forebears. In addition to Cummings and Powers, the names Bowness, Mullally, Neville, Doyle, Morgan, Fogarty, Flannery, Commins, Connell, Daley, McCormick, Barry, Mulligan, and McKeon grace the family tree.

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"May you always walk in sunshine.

May you never want for more.

May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door."

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Calling Hours: TK

 

Funeral Service: TK

 

That's it. This obituary could have been better if only I had a little more ti...