He came to the United States on April 20, 1962. He became a U.S. Citizen on December 2, 1969. He was very proud to be an American.
His family moved to Harrisburg in July 1962 and he lived in the area for the rest of his life.
He married Barrie Price on August 27, 1983.
The marriage was blessed with three children:
Tomas Matthew, age 32
Alexander Francis, age 30
Maxwell James, age 27
His second marriage was to Marlene Pietzsch - Varnalis on September 2, 2000.
The blended marriage added two children to the family:
Evangelia Condon, age 35 and
Kristina Varnalis, age 29
He gave everything he had to make sure his children were cared for and loved.
Tom worked as a technician at Xerox for 30 years and still maintains friendships with his fellow technicians from his time there.
He was extremely creative and multi-talented.
The highlights of his talents include the following:
His mechanical abilities were unsurpassed. He could fix just about anything.
As an artist, he could draw from memory. He especially loved drawing cars and mechanical things.
His carpentry skills are on display throughout his house and yard. He inherited those skills from his grandfather, Bebe.
His greatest love and talent was playing his guitar. With his red Stratocaster, he played in several groups and did many gigs around the local area. His favorite artist was Eric Clapton followed by Jimmi Hendrix and The Eagles. He always said that music was his greatest therapy, especially playing the “blues”. His love of music was passed on to all of his children.
He was known as “Island Boy” to many musicians in the area due to his knowledge and talent at repairing and setting up guitars.
Tom loved motorcycles and muscle cars. His younger years were spent repairing and modifying engines to make his cars faster. He talked about his Chevelle as “the one who got away”. He had many motorcycles, but he especially loved Harley Davidsons. He finally purchased a Harley in 2004 and enjoyed riding with his buddies. He called it “wind therapy”. On his trip to visit his sister and her family in Wyoming in 2008, he visited Sturgis, the Mecca of the motorcycle culture.
He was also deeply connected to nature, and spent countless hours bird-watching and hiking through the woods. He especially loved birds of prey like hawks and eagles.
His love of College Football began in his teenage years, and continued for the remainder of his life. Every Saturday from September through December was spent yelling at the television set if a referee made a bad call (or if the coach made a bad play call).
He was happily married with Marlene, his wife of 18 years, and passed peacefully at home surrounded by his wife, his son Max, and his sister Rosy.
Every member of his family will remember his unconditional love, and will forever miss him.
Survived By: His beloved wife, Marlene, and their blended family of five, and one granddaughter. Children include his son, Tomas with his wife, Shelby and their daughter, Nina; sons, Alexander and Maxwell; and step-daughters, Kristina Varnalis, and Evangelia Condon with her husband, Cory. Also survived by his dear sister, Rosy Basko with her husband, Tony, and son, Grant.
Visitation will be 3:00 to 4;00 Monday June 25, 2018 from Neill Funeral Home Camp Hill, with service starting at 4:00PM.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18