Thomas Tirado

Tirado, Tom-“Everyone needs a Tom in their life” Tom Tirado, 57, of Houston, TX died Sunday August 13th. Tom is survived by his amazing family; Anita Linden his wife, and 5 children: Marybeth, Matthew, Rebecca, Timothy and Christina Tirado, 10 wonderful grandkids, father Thomas Tirado and older brother Frank Tejera. Tom passed after a long fight with Type 1 Diabetes. He was originally from New York and graduated from Lamar high school in Houston, Texas. Tom then attended Texas A&M where he was part of the Texas A&M Corp of Cadets before joining the Air Force. After being a great photographer with the Houston Rockets, he worked in the bicycle industry for almost 20 years. His passion was helping kids and adults involved in cycling. Tom found great benefits with cycling in his fight with Diabetes but mostly he found joy in the people he met and got to ride with and introduced to cycling. He was best known for his wonderful spirit, incredible smile and enthusiasm for helping people, especially children. It has been estimated that over 1,000 children learned to ride their bicycle without training wheels with the help of Tom and his family. His instruction along with his incredible energy in supporting the Houston area cycling and the triathlon community is what made Tom’s life so special. He always greeted you with a smile. Tom’s love of his family was evident in everything he did. With the help of his wife and kids, Tom and the Tirado family made a lasting impact wherever they went. His spirit lives on in each of his family members. Tom and his family always on their days off or any free time, are giving of themselves to anyone that asks for or just looks like they need help and the Tirados will continue this tradition. The life lessons they have learned from being part of “Team Tirado” will carry them to greatness and will be a virtual tribute to Tom and Anita’s life together. Tom, Anita and the kid’s friendship is infectious and exciting. If you are lucky enough to meet or spend any time with the Tirado family, you will agree that you could not be around them long and not be smiling from ear to ear. This is evident by all of the wonderful comments and stories that have been shared on Facebook, text, emails, phone calls and conversations shared since his passing. Tom enjoyed working with everyone. Just a small list of teams, charity rides and other groups Tom supported are: BWH Kids Club, Trimac, Katy Twist, BP MS150, Schlumberger Cycling team, Slingshot Sports Bra Jockstrap Catapult, Trifit XT, Outloud Productions, iTri events Onurmark, B-Geo Magnolia Miles, Kingwood Fillies Bike thru the Forest ride, Katy Flatlands, all Houston area triathlons and ironman events and many other races local to the Houston area. Tom was instrumental in bringing the Tour De Cure to Houston and without his tireless effort and unbelievable resiliency, it would not be the ride it is today. This was the way that Tom gave of himself every day to every group, every charity and every person young and old. Gave of himself without asking anything in return, in Tom’s mind the joy he got from seeing everyone get that little extra spark in their life was reward enough for him. I want to end this with a recent story that has been shared about Tom and the impact he has had on this planet that comes to us from David Thurman: “I would like to talk about a life well lived. I did not know Tom Tirado very well, he was a driver on my 2015 TIR team, and I would see him now and then and I would stop and say hello and ask how he's doing, and he would always have a positive remark. He sent me a friend request here on Facebook about a year ago, and we would shoot messages now and then but nothing really significant. I learned of his passing yesterday and it made me very sad. But seeing what an impact he had on so many people both in the running/cycling/triathlon community, and with people that also shared in the awful disease of diabetes, I see now that one life can affect so many. My biggest memory of Tom was during the 2015 TIR race and we were approaching the final leg coming into the San Jacinto Monument. We had a runner on the course and we were driving the path along side of our runner, when we came down the street and saw a young man, boy actually, Sitting and waving at all the nicely decorated white vans passing in front of him clapping his approval, cheering us all on, I believe he was in a wheelchair but I'm not really sure. Anyway when our van passed him up Tom drove a little bit further and then he said he had to do something, so he basically made a U-turn around the block, and went back to see that young man sitting there cheering us all on. When our van approached him again Tom stopped, got out, went to the back of the van, got out a Bicycle World t-shirt and one of those Bicycle World skullcaps, and gave them both to that little boy. It didn't take much time, but it made that boy very happy, and that act of kindness touched me personally very significantly. Seeing what impact Tom had not only on individuals both young and old, but different aspects of the sport of triathlon, cycling, and running, I wish I would've taken more time to get to know Tom a lot better. I know my life would've been more enriched by doing so. Seems to me that Tom got to work at what he was passionate about, and not a lot of us can really say that. When I do go, and if I'm lucky enough and there is a heaven, and if I'm lucky enough I get to go there, I hope to see Tom just so I can tell him the impact he had on me on that particular day with that particular act of kindness... and thank him for it. To me that's a life well lived. “ Something else that has been said and I will end it with this. “EVERYONE NEEDS A TOM IN THEIR LIFE” The Tirado Family will be present to receive friends Saturday, August 19, 2017 from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM at Dettling Funeral Home, 14094 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77079. A Memorial Service celebrating Tom’s life will be held Sunday, August 20, 2017 at 3:00 PM at Dettling Funeral Home.

Thomas Tirado

March 17, 1960 - August 13, 2017