Always an adventurer, Tom became an integral member of The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee in 1973, a community based in a spiritual commitment to work for the common good of all peoples.

Tom met Lisa and her young daughter Jennifer on The Farm in 1975 and they married in 1976. Following an inner call to heal, Tom became an EMT and paramedic in 1976 and volunteered with The Farm’s relief organization, Plenty International, where he served as a medic in Guatemala with his family from 1977-78. His experiences during that time serving the humble Mayan people led him to pursue medical school with great passion.Tom worked multiple jobs for much of his life to support his family and gain experience in medicine, including working as an ambulance driver for Vanderbilt Hospital’s "Angel One" premature infant unit in Nashville, Tennessee.

Leon, was born at home in August, 1979, just prior to Tom’s medical school entrance exams. Tom attended medical school at the University of TN at Memphis 1980-1984. The luck of the residency draw brought the family to Salinas, CA in 1984 where Tom entered the Family Practice Residency Program at Natividad Hospital.

Despite the demands of residency and family life, from 1984-88 Tom organized a Plenty project in Lesotho, raising funds to build and staff a primary care clinic and purchase an ambulance for the Basutu people.

Tom delivered his daughter, Kaya Rose, at home in October, 1988.

Tom was hired as an Emergency Room physician at the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) in 1989, where he spent the majority of his medical career. As a tireless advocate for quality patient care in Monterey County, Tom served in numerous capacities. He was Deputy Director of the County’s Emergency Medical Services agency and Chair of the Prehospital Care board from 1988-94. Most recently Tom was Base Hospital Medical Director for CHOMP as well as Chair of the Emergency Medical Services Council. As the current Medical Director of Monterey Bay Urgent Care Clinic, Tom continued his devoted medical service to the community. Over the course of his 20-year career as a physician, Tom helped tens of thousands of patients and their families with his skilled, compassionate care, and his unending sense of humor.