Thomas M. Mierswa, Sr.

Thomas Murray Mierswa, Sr., loving husband, father, son, uncle, brother and friend, entered into eternal rest in the arms of our loving God, joining his beloved wife, Gerry, on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. He was 90 years old.

Tom lived an eventful life, balanced by family, work, travel and adventure. Born on July 1, 1930, in the Bronx and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, Tom attended Fordham University, graduating first with a philosophy degree and then a law degree, and became a member of the NY bar.

Married to his Angel #1, Gerry, for 67 years, they began their life together in 1953, in Fort Eustis, VA, where Tom was stationed in the Army. Upon Tom’s discharge, they moved to the New York area, ultimately residing in Port Washington, where they raised their four children. Tom loved his family dearly and shared with them his love for gardening, sailing and the sea.

Tom worked for IBM for over 30 years. As an international sales manager, he traveled the globe and, during one summer, even brought his family to live in France. He later worked with IBM’s legal department. Throughout his career, no matter his role, Tom was known as a kind and generous manager who treated everyone with dignity and respect.

After Tom retired from IBM, he volunteered at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults in Port Washington, teaching residents business concepts. He became proficient in sign language and often communicated with his family by signing - whether they knew sign, or not!

Tom loved to fish, often casting for herring or blue fish, and volunteered by replenishing mussel and oyster populations in Mt. Sinai Bay. Every Spring, Tom would prepare his large vegetable garden, anticipating a bounty of produce, which invariably arrived. He was a skilled carpenter and home repairman, building furniture, remodeling his homes and repairing anything that needed fixing.

Tom lost his best friend and wife, Gerry, on May 14, 2020. He is survived by his daughters, Therese Mierswa (Thomas, deceased) and Michelle Mierswa (Bob), and sons, Tom Mierswa (Nancy) and Charles Mierswa (Julia), and ten grandchildren, who lovingly call him “Bopa,” Jennifer (Dan), Katie (Mike), Shmee, Brian (Kameryn), Michael, Peter (Kelli), Matthew (Regina), Elizabeth (Justin), Georgia (Andrew) and Philip, and four great-grandsons, Jack, Ben, Kieran, and Alexander, and by his sister-in-law, Barbara Norman, and wonderful nieces and dear friends.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Church of the Presentation, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, on Saturday, March 6, at 10 AM, followed by burial at Christ the King Cemetery in Franklin Lakes.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you perform an act of kindness in Tom’s name.
For those who would like to make a donation in Tom’s memory, please consider donating to Hope House Ministries, https://www.hhm.org/donate-online/ which is committed to helping young people and families in crisis, pregnant women and mothers and babies in crisis and all other wounded people within our society, who are seen as abandoned and neglected.
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The Funeral Mass on 3/6/21 at 10:00 AM will be live streamed. Please click on the following link to view
the live stream:  https://vimeo.com/519260057/12147c06d8