To all Tom's family members and friends, please accept my most deep felt condolences.I had the great fortune to work with Tom as a flight test engineer on a few projects.  I first met him when my USAF Test Pilot School class visited the Empire Test Pilot School at Boscombe Down when we were both students at those schools.  We quickly became friends, which was easy to do with Tom.  A few months later we were posted at the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment in Cold Lake.Flying in his back seat was always a treat.  We always had great conversations, whether of a humourous, social or more technical nature.  I always enjoyed his presence.  His engineering expertise was just as remarkable as his flying skills.  He was a  great team player, and his dedication and perseverence always inspired me to go the extra mile.We often met casually in Cold Lake after his release from the CF.  Always the gentlemen and friend interesred with what was going on in your life.  By the way, he always spoke very highly of his family and often mentioned his nieces and nephews.   Nicole and I are missing him dearly.

To Tom’s Family my deepest condolences.  Tom and I had a great friendship that began at CFB Borden while we were on the Basic Officer Training Course in May 1977.  It all began with a discussion of flying and gliding and discovered that we both had a great passion for aviation. We were together through all the different phases of training from Portage, to Moose Jaw, to Cold Lake, and on to the ultimate goal of flying the CF104. We were both posted to Baden Soellingen in Germany: Tom on to 439 Squadron and I went on to 421 Squadron. We did many trips together to different aviation museums throughout Germany and England during our time off.  We had one trip flying over the American Sector and saw a Concorde out in a field. We asked many people on base how it got there and no one knew so we jumped in my car and drove there to see how it came to be there.  It turned out that it was in fact a full-scale model built by the German farmer.  Tom never tired of learning about all kinds of different aircraft and we took our time discussing a multitude of different aspects of many aircraft. He was a great friend who listened to what you said and always provoked more stimulating questions.Although we did get together several times over the years after the military, I always felt we got right back to where we left off when we did get together. He was a very genuine person and loved playing with our kids and they with him.  I always loved his drink of choice “ Coke no ice, please.”  

I wish to pass along my deepest sympathies to Tom’s family and friends; I am shocked and profoundly saddened at the news of his untimely passing.  I am one of the group of friends mentioned by John Garstang in his comments elsewhere on this tribute wall. Together, along with Tom, we all “flew” into adulthood. From the years 1976 to 1981 we had many wonderful adventures, on the ground and in the air, throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan . During the summer months we taught others to  fly at the old airforce base  in Rivers, Manitoba and during the rest of those  years , we  ourselves were being taught as we attended the University of Saskatchewan.  His amazing judgment and deft touch at the controls of an aircraft were apparent from the very beginning and he in fact went go on to use those abilities to forge remarkable flying career for himself.  Looking back now though, the thing that stands out for me the most about Tom was his constant smile  and the ever present twinkle in his eyes. He was always curious, always encouraging and always enthusiastic about his various passions….I can remember listening to the song “Crimson and Clover”  one time over twenty times as Tom replayed it over and over to convince me how great it was!  Tom knew who he was, what he like and what he wanted and always stayed true to him self.  I for one, will never forget him.

Our boys, Kiff and Jamie are sitting with TK during a visit to Victoria.  He was a very caring uncle to our boys for many years. Bob and Sue Saunders.

Dear family of Tom. I just heard TK has passed away. I was part of the Dutch contingent during pilot training in 1977, 78 and 79. During the survival course I spent the two man phase together with Tom. I remember Tom as a quiet but bright and unassuming person. I wish you all the strenght to cope with this loss. 

Dear family of Tom, you gave so many of us a treasure of a man who none of us will ever ever forget. My incredibly short 3 years of working with Tom, were actually the best of my life. His smile, laughter and quick wit (a very sharp mind) were a delight to behold, and brightened every day I was there. His flying ability was amazing.......I will never ever forget his low level tour of the Rockies from my back seat of the T-bird.....utterly breathtaking, but not for a minute worried about my safety.Losing Tom at such a young age is a cruel shock for me so I cannot imagine how any of you can accept this. However, you have my prayers, and fervent assurance that his smile will live with me forever.

I echo John Garstang""s comments and memories, especially since the three of us were usually together at any point.So many big, and happy memories. Tom was truly one of the kindest and humble and good people to have ever walked the earth. I feel blessed to have known him.Let's hope there are airplanes in Heaven...

I wish to convey to Tom's family my deepest respects and condolences!  I was saddened to hear of Tom's passing as I knew Tom in his early aviation days before joining the RCAF. Those days saw him progress from ""winchling” and on to tow pilot.  It was one of my life's greatest pleasures for me to have known Tom. One of my best memories was the letter I received from Tom while he was posted in Germany following his ejection from the fighter jet. In that letter he said that it was important for him to reach out to his friends as he really appreciated us all after experiencing that event.   Tom, it is my sincerest wish that now that you have completed your last ""hangar run,"" that it has taken you to the place that gives you the greatest peace and happiness!

Tom gave me so many priceless memories and shared experiences, over so many years. It is hard to try and put to words what a valued friendship like his means. It is a never ending, treasured gift. He was always a rock solid good friend, starting back when we were two young kids who joined Air Cadets (dreaming of maybe flying someday?). Tom never forgot those who helped him and others along the way. An example is Tony Slugoski.  Tony was a retired RCAF pilot who kindled a spark in all of us to learn how to fly. Tony put countless voluntary hours into the Saskatchewan Air Cadet flying scholarships programs. That is where Tom, as well as the other hairy creatures shown in the attached University-era photo, first learned to fly (PS: The Beatles hairdos would be trimmed when we got back into uniforms, to fly again as instructors and tow pilots, at the Rivers Glider Pilot Training School). Tom’s flight career started at sixteen. We would gather at the semi-abandoned WW2 airfield Assiniboia, and take turns driving and repeatedly squealing-out in Tony’s personal car. Needless to say, that turned the car into an oil burning, blue smoke belching, clunker. Tom soon mastered the art of drag racing that car down old beat up runways, while pulling hundreds of feet of tow rope attached to an old two seater Schweizer 222 glider (a fancy name for something resembling a heavy brick with short stubby wings… AKA a primitive CF-104 glider). I can still see the big smiles on Tom’s face as he blasted down the runways in clouds of blue smoke, catapult launching the glider behind him, at just the right speed. Tom’s ability to focus and concentrate while under pressure was apparent back then. After waiting his turn, Tom progressed into the glider pilot’s seat as a student. He was a natural. He wasn’t intimidated by the glider car launches. Once again, I can still see those big smiles on his face as he was suddenly jerked back into his glider seat, while quickly pulling back on the control column at just the right airspeed, as he precisely maintained control. It was a beautiful and an awesome sight to watch him rocket skyward at very steep angles (45 degrees and greater, depending on the winds). In a matter of seconds, he was at altitude and released the tow rope to glide back to earth in eerie silence. After logging so many takeoffs and landings, he took his flight test and was awarded his glider license. Tom quickly went on to get his glider instructors endorsement with Tony’s help. He also graduated to learning to run the winch truck, with its big hefty engine that could rapidly reel in thousands of feet of steel tow cable. Winch truck glider launches were like car launches on mega steroids. It required more finesse and precision to operate, which Tom mastered in no time. Tom had a knack at finding the largest farmer’s fields to operate out of, no matter where we went (even if they were muddy and challenging…). That gave Air Cadets a great ride and introduction to flight on weekends and holidays. Tom was always keen to run operations right from sunrise to sunset, to give the maximum number of flights to as many Cadets as we could. We paid a price though. There were many very long hours spent in the cold darkness assembling and disassembling the glider and equipment, plus the long trips back home very late at night or into the early morning hours. For these jobs, Tom liked to wear his favorite all-weather parka, a lot. It was always a pleasure traveling with him under these circumstances. Our treat was often pooling our meal allowances together to buy a barrel or two of Kentucky Fried Chicken. We would leave the buckets of fried chicken in the winch truck cab. No cooler was needed because of Colonel Sander’s secret ingredients. That allowed us to quickly grab our breakfast, lunch and dinner while working. Somehow, that extra-aged, cold, greasy, fried chicken still tasted sooo good after a number of days, especially when in the company of such a good friend. Tom was able to squeeze in a lot of volunteer glider flying, as well as lots of flying in our favorite ex-Armed Force camouflaged L19 Birdogs operating out of farmers’ fields. He did this while simultaneously going to University working on a demanding Mechanical Engineering Degree. I highly valued his company during those trying times as we attempted to catch up on mounds of homework and study material. Many a long hour was spent cramming at the Engineering library. He would always provide help at a moment’s notice to anyone who needed it. Our lofty dreams at that time were to join the Armed Forces and somehow work towards the unbelievably tough and exceptionally demanding requirements, just to be able to apply for only a handful of military test pilot openings in the world. Tom not only made the qualification standards, he also graduated from one of the most recognized, and the best of the best military flight training schools in the world: the Empire Test Pilots School in Boscombe Down, England. To say that all of us old flying buddies were proud of him was an understatement. Even after succeeding in doing so, he was humble with his achievements. However, he did get my goat on a number of occasions when I would receive a surprise letter from him rubbing-it-in on what he was doing, while I was flying a desk at my work. One example was how he “accidentally” overflew some nudist colonies in Germany, strangely, on more than one occasion. These happened to occur while flying at a very low altitude and at high speed during practice/test photo reconnaissance flights. As usual, he kept his professional cool and composure under such high stress and excitement. Accidents like that happen, just like when he had to eject from a CF-104 after a flaming engine failure at low altitude (see newspaper clippings). You will be missed my dear friend. You often bring back priceless memories and smiles, such as whenever I see or smell a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant…

Tom was one of the most formative influences on my childhood.  During the 90s and early 2000s, Tom and I liked to visit the Western Development Museum when the family would gather in Saskatoon.  This is a big reason I think why museology has become my life calling.  I also recall a couple of tag-based games we'd play around the Ping Pong table in Grandma's basement - an early one involving tagging the opponents by throwing and hitting them with a toy Pterodactyl, which I called ""Camerican Eagle"" for some reason - and after that toy got lost, a later version we called ""Whacker"", involving hitting the Ping Pong ball with the racket to tag opponents.  :D  Great times.

The ‘Camerican Eagle Game’ and ‘Wacker’ were epic battles of speed and endurance.  Tom took many injuries all in the name of fun for us kids!  I also remember Tom teaching us kids self-defence tactics that we lovingly called the ‘Torture Techniques’ if we ever had to defend ourselves. Tom took many karate chops to the kidney and lost some hair in the process. Good thing he usually carried a pocket hair comb to fix any out of place hair stands.  Great times and childhood memories that we will remember and laugh about forever.  Tom was very loved and is terribly missed.

We were always so excited when Tom came to visit us and it was usually from the air. He would often “buzz” the farm and we have a few times that I got him on camera with VHS clips. He once invited us to the airport and let us sit in the cockpit just DO NOT pull that switch. Lol.  thanks for meeting up with us and such a nice visit when we stopped in Cold Lake. You were a wonderful cousin and friend.

I'll never forget the adventures Tom took us on and the games he created for us as kids. We always looked forward to seeing him whenever we visited Saskatoon. He even took me and Jordan flying in a Cessna when I was only 9. I was terrified out of my wits, but it was so cool to be able to say I had that experience. Thank you, Tom, for all the fun and excitement you brought to our lives.

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Thomas Klassen

Décédé(e) le 8 AOÛT 2021

Mourning Glory Funeral Services

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