Thomas E. Seymour

Thomas Edmund Seymour died peacefully at his home in Rainbow Lake, New York on Tuesday, May 26th.

Tom was born the eldest of eight children in Malone, New York on December 21, 1942.

Tom attended St Joseph’s Academy, where he excelled at basketball, spending summers working his Uncle Al’s potato farm, or for his father at Seymour Roofing. After high school, Tom served in the U.S. Army. He served as a Specialist 5 and surveyor in East Germany, where he “camped for two years” and was stabbed in the knee by a bayonet.

While Tom was serving his country, his sister Kay secretly mailed him photos of fellow nurse Sharon Spaulding. Over several months Kay exuberantly conveyed adoration for her big brother. When Sharon finally met Tom, she exclaimed, “So, you're the eighth wonder of the world!” That was Valentine’s Day 1966. They were married less than a year later on January 28, 1967, at Notre Dame Cathedral, in Malone, New York.

Tom and Sharon raised their children in Wheatridge, Colorado where he attended the Colorado School of Mines, and started his successful business, T & K Construction. They enjoyed the Rocky Mountains for a decade, before returning to Saranac Lake in March of 1980. They lived in the oldest house in Saranac Lake, on the corner of 10 Kiwassa for 23 years.

His construction business continued in the Saranac Lake area. Tom generously passed along his old-fashioned work ethic to his son Kris and several of Kris’s friends, who apprenticed under him each summer. They gained a lifetime of building knowledge, learned that a job done is a job done right, and rarely had any ambition left for the gym after a long day at the worksite.

Tom taught the woodworking vocational program at Camp Adirondack prison for 22 years. After retirement Tom was a residential and commercial cabinet maker. Two of his favorite projects were the restoration of E.L Trudeau’s Laboratory cabinets at Historic Saranac Lake, and several projects for the Saranac Lake Free Library. He also served on the Village Planning Board in Harrietstown and Town of Brighton.

Tom was tall, intelligent, and family-centered with strong opinions and a big heart. Tom loved long drives and took many cross-country road trips. He enjoyed cruises with Sharon and his daughter Lea Ann to tropical destinations and Alaska. When not on adventure, he was content watching the antics of songbirds and fox families from the deck. That said, the mention of soft serve ice cream ejected him from his chair to the convertible with surprising speed.

Sharon, his wife of 59 years, was the epicenter of his world. He had great pride in his children, and supported his grandchildren through their athletic and artistic endeavors. Yet, Tom laughed loudest in the company of his six brothers, recounting endless tales of their youth, each colorfully arguing the facts, who was to blame or the actual ending.

His was truly a life well lived, and he will be greatly missed.

Tom is predeceased by his parents: Edmund Seymour and Marion O’Meara Seymour, his sister Kathleen Babson, brother-in-law Dallas Joseph Babson, and nephew Joseph Babson.

Tom is survived by his wife, Sharon; son Kris Cheney-Seymour (Amy); daughter Lea Ann Seymour Watson (Ed Lafortune); four grandchildren, Lauchlan Cheney-Seymour, Colter Cheney-Seymour, Alina Watson, and Peter Watson; six brothers, Raymond Seymour (Linda), Robert Seymour (Sarah), Donald Seymour (Gail), Paul Seymour (Linda), Neil Seymour (Kathy), and David Seymour (Sally); and twenty-seven nieces and nephews.

Calling hours are Tuesday, June 2, from 4–6 p.m. at Fortune-Keough Funeral Home, and a Catholic Mass will be celebrated Wednesday, June 3, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Bernard’s Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Tom’s name may be made to the Paul Smiths Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department or St. Bernard’s School. Family and friends can also share their condolences and memories at fortunekeoughfuernalhome.com.