Longtime Westporter, former Conservation Committee chair and avid Rotary Club member Tom Carey died Monday at his home, after battling cancer. He was 68. His family sends this obituary:
He was surrounded by love.
A Newtown native, it was at Newtown High School where he met the love of his life and his wife of 47 years, Patricia Honan Carey.
They married on June 18, 1977, shortly after he proudly graduated from Williams College cum laude in economics. At Williams he made lifelong friends and cultivated his passion for learning.
He joined the Citibank training program upon graduation. He and Pat moved to the Bronx just in time for the 1977 New York City blackout. He had a 40-year career in finance and commercial real estate investing at Citigroup, Trian Group, Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global Real Estate.
Tom and Pat started their family in Norwalk, moved to Plano, Texas in 1983, and settled in Westport in 1985.
Tom and Pat traveled the world together. They especially loved frequent trips to Italy, where the entire family celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in a beautiful Tuscan village in 2017.
Tom Carey
Upon retirement in 2019, Tom became active in the local community, joining and later chairing the Conservation Committee. He was a proud member of Rotary, where he made great friends and served as treasurer.
His work with the Conservation Committee enhanced his lifelong love of gardening. He created beautiful native organic gardens at his home, bringing birds, butterflies, and bees to the yard.
Tom loved sports, and was a statistics nerd. At Williams he served as men’s basketball play-by-play announcer for the college radio station. He was a lifelong Yankees fan, and hoped to celebrate one more World Series.
He coached youth teams for all 3 children, and attended most of their sporting events, including Union College soccer games and track meets, and Williams College swim meets. He was a certified soccer referee and swimming official. He served as co-president of the Westport Weston YMCA Water Rats Parents’ Club.
He loved cooking, and prepared elaborate restaurant quality dinners each Sunday night for the family. Especially beloved was his paella, cooked over an open fire. He and Pat hosted an annual 4th of July party for extended family. It included a very competitive pool basketball game, from which he retired only after becoming a grandfather.
He took his Beefeater martinis so dry that he preferred for the vermouth to remain in the bottle, his scotch Dewars on the rocks (always taken from his Waterford decanter), and his wine a robust Italian red.
His favorite role was that of Papi to his 5 grandchildren to whom he told elaborate stories with made up characters, just as he did for his own children when they were young.
He is survived by his wife Pat; daughter Meaghan Carey of New York City; sons Michael of Fairfield nd Brian of Westport; daughters-in-law whom he loved like his own children, Lapde and Abigail; grandchildren Liam, Louie, Eliza, Jude and Maeve; siblings Sas, Jason (Carolyn), Carey (Andy Baron) and Julie Petro; sisters- and brothers-in-law, and nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, with whom he shared close and loving relationships.
The Carey family thanks the nursing and medical staff at Memorial Sloan Kettering for providing excellent, supportive care, and to the nurses and social workers from Regional Hospice for helping keep him comfortable in his last days.
Check www.thomasdcarey.com in the coming days for information concerning a Celebration of Life.
Donations in Tom’s name can be made to the Westport Rotary Club.
My condolences to the entire family. I first met Tom on the hill at what used to be the Staples varsity soccer field. He was always very friendly and always seemed to be in good spirits.