Tom was born in New York City on March 22, 1941, son of Nora Ward Blair and Andrew Blair (both of whom emigrated from Ireland). Tom grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and graduated from Bishop Dubois High School. He graduated from Fordham College in 1962 and attended Fordham Law School and New York University Graduate School of Business.
Tom began his career with Martin Marietta in Orlando, Fla. assigned to the Pershing missile project. He then went on to Allied Chemical as a manager-finance in the Fabricated Products Division and subsequently held various general management and marketing positions including President of National Home Products, Inc. He was also director of acquisitions and divestitures and negotiated the sale of major portions of Allied Chemical’s operations, and as chairman of the acquisitions committee, negotiated numerous acquisitions, including Fisher Scientific, Eltra, Bunker Ramo, Bendix and Signal. Tom was an early leader in the venture capital and private equity space for 30 years and established the ventures group at Allied Corporation (Allied-Signal Honeywell) in 1977. He also served as Treasurer and Director of the New York Venture Capital Forum.
Tom was also instrumental in advising his son, Tom, in the development of a highly functional and fashionable ski apparel line, Glacier Skiwear Company; and 15 years later, he was a key creative force with respect to the startup of the Safety 4 Kids (S4K) brand, which developed and produced the two-time Emmy Award winning children’s television series “Seemore’s Playhouse” in conjunction with Hearst and Sony Pictures which aired on PBS, Nat GEO kids, and AL Jazeera. Tom was an entrepreneurial and creative light that always provided wonderful insights to his children.
Tom and his former wife resided in Ridgewood, NJ, where they raised their children. He was an avid tennis player (he and his son, Tom, played countless hours into the night on the clay at the Upper Ridgewood Tennis Club). Tom was predeceased in death by his daughter Elizabeth, his brother John “Jack” Blair and Karen Krause Blair, mother of his children Tom and Katherine (twins), Elizabeth (d) and Jennifer. After returning to NYC’s Carnegie Hill, you could count on seeing Tom running on the track around the Central Park Reservoir (he ran his last NYC marathon at the age of 65 prior to being stricken with Parkinson’s Disease).
Tom is survived by his wife of 31 year, Paula (Orlowski) Blair of Manhattan and Stamford, CT; his children Katherine Sullivan and her husband Brian Sullivan of Glen Mills, PA; daughter Jennifer Blair of West Chester, PA and son Tom Blair and his fiancé Lauren Riley of North Stamford, CT; granddaughters Taylor Quinn (19); Schuyler Quinn (17), Rylee Sullivan (18) and Madison Blair (14); brother Dr. Andrew (“Ronnie”) Blair, of Pittsburgh, PA; and nephews Andrew Blair of Dayton, OH; and David Blair of Somerville, Mass; niece, Ellen Blair of Detroit, MI; Maureen Blair of Pittsburgh, PA; and Christine Blair of Philadelphia, PA.
The family will receive friends at the Leo P. Gallagher & Son Funeral Home, 31 Arch Street, Greenwich, CT on March 18 at 6:30-8:30pm. Funeral Services will be held March 19th at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 469 North Street, Greenwich, CT at 11am, followed by interment at St. Mary’s Cemetery at 35 Parsonage Road, Greenwich, CT. A reception will be held at Polpo Restaurant located at 554 Old Post Road, Greenwich, from 1:30-4:30pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the The American Parkinson’s Disease Association (APDA) https://www.apdaparkinson.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/.
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