Obituary of Thomas Putnam Kingsbury

Thomas Putnam Kingsbury, 64, of North Port, Florida, died August 30, 2007 after a difficult bout with pancreatic cancer. He was born in Bronxville, NY, March 3, 1943, son of Robert Putnam Kingsbury and Louise Paulson Kingsbury. He graduated from Cranbrook School in Detroit, MI, and Union College of Schenectady, NY. He is preceded in death by his mother and survived by his father of La Jolla, CA; his sisters Cindy Wollaeger of La Jolla and Susan of Munsonville, NH; a brother Andy of Las Vegas, NM; daughters Dr. Lisa Goodman of Denver, CO., and Jill Wilson of Omaha, NE; granddaughter Stella Wilson of Omaha; and devoted friend and companion Jacque Potter. Tom thought of himself as a numbers and teacher guy, but he was so much more than that. He accomplished more by age 64 than most people dream of by 94. His life revolved around sports and his family. He spent most of his life based at or near the Minneapolis area, but it was often just a jumping off point for places around the world. The last three years of his retirement he lived in Danbury, Wisconsin during the summer, and in North Port, Florida, during the winter. He worked with computers and airlines; programming them, training in new applications, marketing new systems, and working with staffs to support the new systems. As a major part of working for Unisys Airlines Division for 25 years of that he lived and worked around the world, from Tokyo to Denmark to Madrid with stopovers at Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Portugal, and finally a several-years stay at Helsinki. His daughters started school in Europe and were fluent in several languages when the family returned to the USA. Living in the USA gave him the chance to coach his daughters’ softball and soccer teams which he really enjoyed as he worked with them into high school. In his spare time he was active in other sports such as basketball, soccer, skydiving (as a certified instructor), golf, and SCUBA (also as a certified instructor), running (completed two full 26-mile marathons), and chartering a 40′ sailboat in the Caribbean. Up to the end nothing was appreciated more by him than doing something with his family, such as a good game of golf. A celebration of Tom’s life will be held at a later date at the Farley Funeral Home in North Port, Florida. To send condolences, visit www.farleyfuneralhome.com.