Thomas Francis Hassett, 84, passed away peacefully on February 23rd, at the Veterans Lodge at Broadmead in Victoria, BC. Tom was ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church after completing university studies in Ontario and Ireland. In 1966, after working as a professor at Notre Dame University in Nelson, BC and numerous parishes in the Kootenays, he joined the Canadian Armed forces serving in the navy, airborne, and army as a Padre. Tom left the priesthood in 1972 when he met his wife, Joan, while posted to Cyprus with the UN. He went on to become a social worker and eventually the Vice Principal and Principal at Saint Andrew’s High School in Victoria from 1988 to 1995. Tom is survived by his wife Joan; three of his four children, Gavin (Caroline), Rory (Phairat), daughter Nicola (Papa Yoro); seven grandchildren, Jesse, Sabrina, William, Athena, Dior, Nancy, and Birame; predeceased by his son, Liam in July 2000.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Veterans Lodge at Broadmead or Saint Vincent DePaul Society.
The Funeral Mass will be held at St Joseph the Worker Parish on Friday, March 3rd ,2017 at 1pm.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
33 Responses
I wish to convey my most sincere condolences to the Hassett family, though it has been five years since the passing of Tom. Only now have I learnt of his demise.
Tom and I enjoyed many a wonderful discussion, usually on Saturday mornings in his house. I remember very well the impressive library of books that he kept.
His kind and pleasant nature was both charming and reassuring. It helped me see that neither age, colour nor creed need bar us from seeing the good in others.
I regret that I didn’t say goodbye to Tom when I left Canada in 2012 but I hope this scripture brings a measure of comfort to the Hassett family:
“If a man dies, can he live again? I will wait all the days of my compulsory service Until my relief comes. You will call, and I will answer you. You will long for the work of your hands.”
– Job 14:14, 15
Very sad to hear of the death of TOM we got to know him when he came to work in the mines in a arigna co Roscommon when he was on Holidays from maynooth collage where he studied for the priesthood he was a very young man a long way from home he was great fun we Lost contact with him when back to Canada so to his wife and you know you had a great hosbent and father he will be remembered in my prayers Niall Connolly Dublin Ireland
I was totally unaware of Uncle Tom’s parachuting adventures back in summer 1970. But evidently he was keen to share his love of life and adventure with my cousins and me. He took my three cousins, their friend, and me tubing down the Similkameen River in Keremeos, BC in August 1970. August was when the river was at its shallowest depth. That hot sunny afternoon forever remains in my memory as one of the most enjoyable things I did in my teens.
I was staying at my cousins’ home in Keremeos that summer. One day Uncle Tom who was on leave from the RCAF popped by to visit his oldest sister Eileen and his nieces and nephew. While his sister Eileen went off to work, us kids helped pack up Uncle Tom’s car with a bunch of inner tubes. He drove us to the outside of town to this old covered faded red bridge and he parked his car there. Now back then the bridge was in disrepair and some of the wood that covered the side of the bridge was missing. That wasn’t a problem because that is where we would make our jumps. Not only that, the river at that spot was deep and calm enough to make successful jumps.
We followed Uncle Tom onto the bridge with our inner tubes. Then with his inner tube he told us kids to watch him. He stepped through one of the gaps in the wall of the bridge and stood there on the edge looking down over the river. Then he threw his inner tube down to the water below and jumped off the bridge and landed with a big splash in the water below. He surfaced and called up to us to do the same. So one at a time we copied what Uncle Tom did throwing our inner tubes down into the water below, and then one by one we jumped down to the water with a big splash too. What fun! We all surfaced successfully.
Then came the bigger fun of tubing down the river for about 12 km to Cawston which was beyond Keremeos. There were plenty of rapids on the way down, nothing too dangerous because the water in the rapids was quite shallow, but sometimes we had to be careful as we went through those narrows. It meant sticking out our arms or legs and being prepared to shove or push our inner tubes away from the wall of rock that lined the embankment along both sides of the river through the narrows. As we passed through the rapids we also had to steer clear of large rocks or boulders situated on the bed of the river. It was a fantastic challenge and an exhilarating adventure. Other areas of the river were calm and we just paddled along using our hands.
By the time we floated into Cawston a couple of hours later, Uncle Tom knew it was time to get us out of the water. The river was really shallow in that area too so we stood up and made our way over to the shoreline. It was funny to watch us getting our land legs working again as we walked from there to a fruit stand of a neighbour that Aunt Eileen knew. Uncle Tom asked the neighbour if he could use her phone. He called Aunt Eileen and she came to pick us up. She dropped us children off at her home and then she drove Uncle Tom to his car that he left at the covered bridge.
I didn’t know that Uncle Tom was leaving for Cyprus after he left Keremeos that summer. The next time I saw him was in 1972 at my parents’ home in Burnaby. We were excited to see Uncle Tom again especially because he brought his new wife Joan to meet us.
Thank-you Uncle Tom for your wit, your abundant generosity and compassion, and for leaving me with your love of genealogy. : )