Uncle Tom was, is, and will always be larger than life to me. He was hard working, fiercely loyal to his family, and also happened to be the funniest person I've ever met in my life.

There are too many memories to share here, but one of my earliest is eating breakfast at his and Auntie Brenda's house in Calgary. I was eating Life cereal and there was a little Asian boy on the box. Tom was adamant that it was actually a picture of him as a child. After some convincing, I totally bought it... until I excitedly told Auntie Brenda that Uncle Tom was on the cover of the Life cereal box and he just burst out laughing.

There couldn't be a better role model. You're inexplicably gone, but could never be forgotten. Rest in peace Uncle Tom

To: Brenda, Tamara and Jennifer

My sincere condolences on the passing of Tom. I knew Tom for all of the 27 years he was at Tree of Life .I was in Toronto running the Eastern portion of the business and when we changed our name from Ashley-Koffman Foods to Tree of Life and restructured the business, I had much more dealings with Tom in Calgary. We lost touch in the early 2000's but caught up on a visit I had to Calgary in 2015 and then again last year. I remember Tom's quick wit, the twinkle in his eye when he was "playing you", his absolute love for his family, his dedication to the company and his incredible work ethic. May God bless you and keep you in his favour. Until we meet again.

Ron Sadler

My father-in-law Tom, known to me simply as D, was an incredible man. Before I share this, my sincere condolences go to my mother-in-law, Brenda and Tom and Brenda’s incredible daughter Jennifer and my amazing wife, Tamara.

How do you make a man, not like you? Perhaps marrying his daughter and moving her 3,000 miles away is a good start? You’re reading this and thinking, “Yep, that’d do it…,” and I was scared out of my wits that D would never accept that, or me. But that wasn’t the case. D quickly put me at ease.

He was the most down-to-earth, level-headed guy with a welcoming smile that I think I’ve ever met. D and I went to grab coffee one evening while I was still getting to know him. I was sitting in the passenger seat of his truck, cold and too scared to say anything and as he pulled up to the drive-thru window and I opened my wallet, he said, “Put that away. I’m buying because you’re my son now.” I don’t think he ever did let me buy him coffee.

I was always in awe and amazed by him, his love for his family, his love for animals, and how he accepted me as Tamara’s husband, even before I tried the red bean dessert. I soon learned however that D could be a force…at the board games during Family Night! D will always be influential to me and I’m thankful that I was able to meet such a wonderful and kind-hearted man and get to call him D. He will be forever loved and deeply missed.

I, much like everyone sharing memories of Tom, have quite a few memories of this great guy. He is one that I will truly miss.

Having said that, I will share one of the first memories I developed of him.

Tom, Jenn and I went fishing at the lake one time, as he and Jenn did quite bit together, and I was fortunate enough to be taken along this time.

We were sitting in the boat. I think I was only brought along to actually run the boat while they fished, but that was ok too. It’s was a super nice morning. Nice and quiet. Then silence broke with Jenn saying “ Hey D!! you wanna know what Bob Eats??!!” To which Tom replies with just a “Hmm?” No head turning or anything. As he always did.

So she in turn replies. “He eats Minute Rice, what do you think about that?!”

All the while talking about me as if I wasn’t there.

Then Tom looks over at me and says “ Eeeew you eat that shit?!?” With the utmost disgusted look on his face by the way. Then went back to fishing. For the longest time after that he referred to me as “Minute Rice” we laughed at that forever. He even wrote it out in Chinese for me so I could get it tattoo’d on my wrist so every Chinese person could see it.

He gave me a few nicknames that some people still call me today.

Bobily Bop....

Bot.....

He would even call me the same nicknames that Jenn gave me.

Cheese...

Bae..

Cheese Bae...

Whatever it was he would say it if she said it. Or she asked him to.

But let’s be honest. He would do or say anything his girls asked him too.

I could go on and on.

He was a hard man not to like. I am glad I got to know him and could consider him a friend, not just a father in-law.

So goodbye for now Tom. Who knows. Maybe one day We can go get us some big tall Screamers again. ♥️

While I never had the privilege of meeting ‘D’. I do have the privilege of being a friend of his beautiful Jennifers. Hearing the stories of Tom and seeing the pictures of all the adventures he would take with his beloved wife and daughters was always so funny and heartwarming. Jenn has showed me countless pictures of excursions and fun times the family would have together and I feel like the bond this family shares is truly unique and special. These pictures and stories are indicative of Tom’s love for his girls and dedication to doing whatever it takes to make his family laugh. There will truly be a hole left here on earth without Tom in it and I know that his girls will forever miss him. My heartfelt condolences to Brenda, Tamara and Jenn.♥️

Dear Brenda, Tamara and Jennifer.

I have worked with Tom for 7 years at Tree of Life before moving to another company in 2018. I have gotten to know Tom extremely well over this period. Tom was not just a coworker but a true and a loyal friend to me. When I departed from Tree of Life, I personally thanked Tom for bringing laughter, joy and making my stay at TOL so much more enjoyable.

Tom tried to project an image of having a rough and tough exterior of himself, but inside he has a heart of gold. Maybe this façade was needed, since often Tom had to stand his ground to both employees and vendors as a Warehouse Manager.

Tom had a strong love for animals. He felt that all animals are innocent and did whatever he could to protect and nurture them. Often, I would tease him that his family pets were treated much better than how he treated himself.

At work, whenever you asked something from Tom the first words coming out of his mouth were… “Nope, can’t do it, too busy”. This was his auto response to all requests which over time we knew Tom was just kidding! Tom would always go over and above to do whatever it took to get the job done, especially when it comes to meeting the stringent demands of the retail customers.

Tom will be truly missed, and I am very honored to call Tom Chik my very dear friend.

Yours truly,

Terry Wong

I have been so very fortunate to have known Tom most of my life. He married my sister, Brenda, when I was just 9 years old. Technically that made him my brother-in-law, but he was so much more. Tom very quickly became a member of our family and we were so lucky to have him. He was such a hard worker and so eager to learn. I remember many times when he needed help with something and would automatically call my Dad, Jack for assistance. He always called our parents Mom & Dad, which they loved. I also remember Tom as a frugal person who loved using coupons and getting a good deal. But, as frugal as he was, he was twice as generous with his time and money when needed. Supporting the non-profit groups that his girls were involved with was a no-brainer. The rescue animals that came into their home were so lucky to have them as their pet parents too. And when the Coach store opened in Cross Iron Mills, he told me that all the girls in his family needed a Coach purse, including me. He knew I didn't have the money to spend on an expensive purse so he took me out there and had me pick one out and he paid for it, no questions asked. He was always someone that you could rely on. Letting his nieces and nephews stay with them when needed was never questioned. I will miss the way his eyes would light up when he talked about "his girls". He was so very proud of them. He could definitely be gruff and to the point, but he was such a good person and the world was, most certainly, a better place with him here. We all loved him very much and he will be dearly missed. Rest in Peace, dear brother!

It would be difficult for me to choose one memory to share with everyone about Tom. So I will be sharing more memories on here because there are so many stories and memories I have.

The first one I'm going to share is about a time I was invited to go to the lake and Bryan wasn't able to go because he had a job to go to. we were all joking how stupid it was that Bryan wouldn't come to the lake and that he went to the job instead when he should have called in sick. Tom asked me "What's Bryan's number?" I gave him the number and the next thing we hear is Bryan on speaker phone saying "hello." Tom said to Bryan "What is wrong with you going to work. You should grow some balls and call in sick." Bryan was so confused and had no idea who called him. Tom ended the call by saying that Bryan better make it to the lake sometime soon or "I will kick your ass all the way to China and back" then hung up the phone. Bryan didn't make it to the lake for that weekend but we did create a cardboard drawing of Bryan that everyone included in their lake activities and took pictures with.

All my memories of Tom bring a smile to my face because he made me laugh so much. Maybe the next memory can be about the time he decided he wanted to change his name and explained how someone goes about doing that.