william g. "bill" tomek -- Military Service
Bill Tomek is one of many of Table Rock who have served their country. In this part of the memoirs he is in the process of writing, he talks about growing up on the family farm.
An adroit prelude is worthy of quoting:
An adroit prelude is worthy of quoting:
Bill thought of his mother as a typical farm wife; he did not appreciate the rarity of a woman who sometimes critiqued sermons on the way home from church, was a college graduate who taught both high school math and English and drove a car.
Their farm was typical for the 1940s. with small diverse enterprises.
Bill enjoyed walking to the pasture with his father to check the cows and their calves and learn about their care. The hogs and cattle which were fed corn and for the cattle, alfalfa grown on the farm. Bill learned enough about farming to realize he wouldn’t be a good farmer.
His parents bought him a trombone (suggested by a music teacher), which was a lucky break as this story will tell!
At right: Download his memoirs, Bill in the Band. Below, THE NARRATIVE |
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and more!
After Bill's death in 2024, we received more pictures!
My name is James Pratt. I was a colleague of William Tomek at Cornell University for 20 years and send my condolences.
I appreciate your collection of his photos and papers very much and located a photo of his 4th Armored Division Band in their yearbook. In case you do not have this photo and wish to add it to your website, please do so. I believe it is in the public domain.
Thank you,
Bill's picture is outlined in red.
