Tom Tobey

I left Governor Dummer in 1962 with eyes wide open, bound for Colgate University. I continued my involvement in sports with four years of soccer and lacrosse. Al "Pebble" Rock accompanied me there. We even joined the same fraternity. After a brief stint with the Group Division of Aetna Life & Casualty in Hartford, I spent the next 2 1/2 years in the U.S. Army. I received a gunshot wound to my right arm that severed the median and ulnar nerves, the brachial artery and bicep muscle. After a six month residency as a patient at Walter Reed Army Hospital, I retired as a First Lieutenant to civilian life.

I returned to the boarding school life with two years on the faculty of Deerfield Academy while traveling to NYC for reconstructive surgery of my hand. I then took the words "Go West Young Man" to heart and entered Stanford University in a master's degree program in Counseling Psychology. In 1972 I met and married Karen Foley of Medford, Oregon, and returned to Stanford to obtain my Ph.D. The next ten years saw the birth of two daughters, four years as head of the Middle School at Graland Country Day School in Denver, and life as a father, my proudest achievement.

We returned to California and have remained here to the present day. Professionally, I have worked as a school psychologist and run a private practice as an educational consultant. My wife, Karen, has had a remarkable career at Castilleja School in Palo Alto for 25 years . She has developed a model community service program at the school. While our jobs have kept us close to home, we have been able to enjoy travel to Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

We have two beautiful daughters, Rachel and Kirsten, ages 24 and 26. Rachel graduated from Stanford and has worked for Planned Parenthood for the last two years. She will enroll in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy at Princeton in the Fall. Kirsten graduated from Brown. She is currently employed by Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund in Oakland, California.

My life took a left turn last summer with the diagnosis of a brain tumor. I have Andy Whittemore to thank for directing me to a talented neurosurgeon at Stanford. After radiation and recuperation, I am back on track. I am presently getting back into work being far too young to consider retirement quite yet.

I have maintained my contact with GDA serving as an alumni trustee and the class editor of the Archon since our 25th reunion in 1987. John Tarbell and I have enjoyed the opportunity to bring the class back together for the 40th reunion. We could never have done it without the talents of so many of our classmates.

My hobbies are golf, the outdoors, skiing, travel and my family