"I call Pleasanton, Texas my hometown," says Tom Wood, recently received as a new member of the Avon-Canton Rotary Club. "It was a very small town known as the Birthplace of the Cowboy down in Atascosa County. I have lived in over 25 places, including not only across Texas but also Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and Connecticut. I have resided in Avon since 1996."
Tom attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio where he received a BBA and an MBA in Finance. He has been a CPA since 1979, despite the fact, says Tom, that "somehow, I passed the CPA exam on the first sitting, even though I do not have a degree in accounting."
Tom and Marie have been married for 40 years, after meeting on a blind date in Houston on Jan. 23, 1983. "It was love at first sight," declares Tom, "and we were married at St. Dimitrie Orthodox Church in Bridgeport that year."
Three years later, with a detour through Dallas where their oldest son, Tom, was born, the Wood family moved to West Hartford where their younger son, Chris, was born.
"We are very fortunate that our children and their families live near us," says Tom, noting that "Tom is an Avon resident, and Chris lives in Burlington. We have three grandchildren, Morgan, Thomas Atlas and Austin James."
Tom has worked for seven companies spanning five decades, including three banks, a financial planning company, an oil company and the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford. He was selected CFO of the Year by the Hartford Business Journal in 2014 and currently serves as the treasurer of three organizations: Duncaster, Inc., Hartford Community Loan Fund and St. Dimitrie Orthodox Church.
A long-time active member of the West Hartford Rotary Club, Tom reports that "I was the Club's treasurer for my entire tenure there. I worked most events,, e.g., the Vine of March, the Jazz Brunch, etc. I came over the mountain to come home to Rotary in Avon where I have resided for 28 years."
In becoming a member of Avon-Canton Rotary, Tom notes that he has always been inspired these quotes: "Everyone deserves a little happiness. Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow." - Plato. And: "It’s not what you look at that matters; it’s what you see." - Henry David Thoreau.
We are very happy to welcome Tom Wood as a new Avon-Canton Rotarian.