In Memory
Bruce Abernathy, Class of '64, was a classmate of Tim (aka Thomas) Wollet and had lost track of him after Tim was set back a grade and hence graduated in '65. Bruce has requested we do the honor of representing him in his own class's In Memory now that he has located information on him.
The following links will take you to the Obituary which I can confirm is Tim as the Wollet's grew up about 5 or 6 houses down the street from us on Iroquois in our grade school years and Tim got brother Dennis in plenty of trouble or maybe it was the other way around but his sisters were Paula and Mimi. I have posted from the Guestbook a beautiful eulogy written by Albert Feher which is quite ta ribute that Tim would have been so honored to receive. I am keeping it here in his memory.
In the above photo Tim is in Row 5 # 1 Person...Wish I could circle it but site does not let me.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postgazette/obituary.aspx?pid=151329915
http://findmyaccident.com/ohio/2011/06/06/thomas-wollett-dies-when-semi-hits-minivan-on-u-s-6/
Sue Devlin
TRIBUTE IN POST GAZETTE BY ALBERT FEHER
A responsible man died last night. You don't know him. Responsible. You know what I mean, a Pittsburgh kind of guy, always there when needed.
His name was Tom Wollet. He saved many lives. Those in need of a liver, or a heart, or a kidney. No, he wasn't a doctor.
Maybe you remember the trip you took to visit your grandchildren. Your plane left on time and arrived safely. No defective window let the air you breathed leak into the near vacuum eight miles high. No weak structural panel blew off on your way. No, Tom didn't work for the aircraft industry.
Maybe you searched the internet a few months ago looking for your perfect match. Maybe you got lucky. All the information you needed for your choice flashed on your screen perfectly. Tom, made sure of that. No, he had nothing to do with computers.
And the lights came on when you flicked that switch as well. Tom helped with that too. But he didn't work in the coal mines.
Tom really is part of all these things. Yes, he's a real person. Or at least was until last night.
He was killed in an accident somewhere in Ohio. I don't know all the details. I will, but I don't care just yet. I'm thinking of the man I knew.
I'd call him at 3am. Tom, I'd say, The Center for Organ Recovery has a heart that needs to be driven immediately to Philadelphia for transplant. Ok, he'd say, just give me a minute to wake up, I'm on my way. He never failed me.
An aircraft part to go from USAirways' warehouse, here at our airport, for a plane in need of repair in DC. No problem Tom was on his way.
A replacement computer part for Google in New York City. Tom again.
Clotting factor for an Amish kid with hemophilia in Punxatawney who's compound fracture won't stop bleeding. Tom wouldn't hesitate.
He was driver #1093 for American Expediting, a rush delivery company here in Pittsburgh. You know, one of those companies that pick up and deliver things right now. Time critical delivery. That's what the industry calls itself.
But the drivers are independent contractors. Real people, always on call, who drive through the worst storms. Remember the three feet of snow we got winter before last? Tom was on the road in that once in a hundred year storm. And many dozens of other drivers were out there too. They felt responsible for what they picked up for immediate delivery from UPMC, Central Blood Bank, Cisco Computers, Republic Airlines, Joy Mining, and countless other companies.
Not every day gets three feet of snow. Not every day has a patient who needs their critical medicine in a storm. Yesterday was an average day. But not for driver #1093
I don't know how many lives he saved. Or lives he made better. Life isn't always that dramatic. But sometimes it is.
I dispatched the weekend dead man's shift for eight years. I relied on #1093. So did all those who needed a critical part ASAP. They just didn't knew about Tom.
Tom always answered my calls. Not any more. He had another call to answer.