His daddy built cotton gins all over the world; his mama ran a 24-hour truck stop in Plains, Texas, where the wind blows sand in your shoes and yearnings in your soul.

Tom McRae was born in Henderson, Texas, November 17, 1939, 4:02 p.m., to Sue Clinton McRae and Orron Conley McRae. Tom was such a feisty little guy, his mama went down to the local shoe shop and had a leather harness made for him, tied him on a leash to the clothes line and let him run up and down to run off his energy.  The school yard was a block past the back fence.  The school principal showed up at Sue’s front door one day and said, “You’ve just gotta do something with that boy, he’s disturbing classes.”  Sue said, “Well, if you think you can do anything with him, you try.”  Tom started school at age four.  Always one step ahead of his class in smarts and a step behind in size, he was both bored and looking for adventure.  The question was…how would that energy be unleashed?  Perhaps this was the beginning of his life-long thirst for action, success, excitement and the edge.

When his parents divorced, Tom moved to Huntington Beach, California, to live with his Aunt Stella and Uncle Cecil Weaver, pioneers in the plastics business, founders of Nu-World Plastics with partner, radio and TV star, Art Linkletter.  Now this was more like it!  He could ride his bicycle around the block just 3 blocks from the Huntington Beach Pier.  It was the land of milk and honey and just about anything little Tommy’s heart desired….his aunt and uncle were crazy about him…wanted to adopt him, but three years later, when his mama could afford it, she gathered the family together.  Tom came home to his sister, we know as Sister, his big brother Mac, Mama and culture shock….Plains, Texas.  They lived in a two room house with a big dog, named Joe; then a boxer named Ginger; followed by a cat named Siam and her offspring, Calijah & Jambalaya.  Where opportunity had been limitless in California, he could see he’d have to use his imagination in this dusty town of 480 residents…let’s see…that’s 960 shoes.

      His entrepreneurial spirit sparked early with his own shoe shine business in front of the local barber shop at age eleven.  Shining shoes for ten cents and boots for twenty-five, his first Saturday in business produced a pocket overflowing with the revenues of his first venture….$22.  When he ran out of feet, he sacked groceries at Hawkins Super Market.

Then he was called into the family business and washed dishes and changed flats and anything else that needed doing in the Gulf filling station and Western Grill where his mama had first worked then leased for five years.  Located on highways 380 & 214, truckers from the east and west coasts had to pass their way to pick up their corn borer certificates, so there was endless needin’ and doin’ and more lined up behind that.  With nothing but sweat and repetition, Tom was happy to receive his next promotion. 

His brother, Mac, started running heavy equipment in the oil field business for Wagley Construction…their slogan…“We move dirt.  Fight poverty – go to work!”  Tom was drafted by his big brother at age fourteen and began running a bulldozer, moving dirt by day and running with his brother and his buddies by night to the near-by towns for entertainment. He paid fifty cents in Hobbs, New Mexico, to see Elvis Presley; was the first in town to sport a ducktail and a temporary Mohawk; dressed in the latest pink and black fashion; and lowered his Mama’s brand new white ’57 Pontiac Bonneville coupe, turning it into the coolest hotrod in town.

When Tom graduated from Plains High School at age sixteen, he set his sights on Texas Tech in Lubbock, seventy-two miles to the northeast and a million miles from home.  He studied hard….at the Student Union Building, where learning the North Texas Push was a full time pastime.  This would prove to come in handy on down the road.  Classes, however, were again…boring…and there was money to be made in the oil fields…so he adopted the slogan once more, “We move dirt!”, and went back to work for Wagley.

Tom’s Mama had remarried to a steadfast, loyal and faithful man from Paris, Texas, April 10, 1952 when Tom was just twelve.  Tom always kind of took his step-dad, W.B. Scott, Scott or Scotty as most called him, for granted but not his occupation….that, Tom respected.  Electricity.  Scott had tried to teach him his trade, but Tom found out right quick, he wanted none of that. (Years later Tom would learn a deep appreciation for Scott and his relationship with his Mama, Sue.) So it was moving dirt for a while till his sister headed to a new school, South Plains Junior College and Tom decided to join her for the daily fifty-five mile school bus trip to their new center for learning in Leveland.   Most of the fifty-five mile return trip was spent playing poker and winning…another hobby that would play a pivotal role just before his thirtieth birthday. 

While Tom was seeking higher education, his brother, Mac, was serving in Korea after being drafted by the U.S. Army to serve in the 7^th Calvary, earning the soldier of the month award.  Maybe it was the uniform, or maybe it was the yearning, but Tom decided to join the Army National Guard when his brother returned home.  He served as a supply sergeant in Fort Hood, located between Waco and Austin.  With his vision for the position, he developed sharp business skills…wheeling and dealing and bartering and always coming up with whatever was needed, or for that matter….wanted. 

THE SIXTIES

In 1958, he met Freda Donica from Big Spring at a Hoyle Nix dance in Brownfield.  They were soon wed, and the treasure of his life was born May 5, 1961…his daughter, Sam.  He thought the moon and stars were hung just for her.  She had big button eyes, blonde wispy locks and a personality to melt her daddy’s heart.

It wasn’t long till he heard the big city calling with more opportunities and a chance to see Plains in the rear view mirror.  He moved his little family to Dallas and moved dirt to support them… laying the ground work for apartment buildings and such.  Then he took on the insurance business and was a claims adjuster for a short while, until he saw some of his buddies had more change in their pockets than he did, and they got it from a lot “funner” business, the garment industry.

Tom went to the Apparel Mart and walked into Carl Abady’s showroom.  “You better hire me before someone else does, ‘cause I’m gonna be the best salesman in the building.  I’ll work for you for three months, and if you don’t like my work, you don’t have to pay me.”  He was hired.  He became a rag peddler selling Petty Sportswear.

He was single now… his only regret…less time with his little girl, but he took her fun places and treasured their every moment together on “Daddy Days”…just the two of them.

He became an independent rep for Off My Back, a high end fashion blouse line, Joy Stephens and Butternut Sportswear; got his own showroom and painted it white with huge black peace signs on the wall.  It was the 60’s!

FINDING SANDI

In the summer of 1969 he went to an all night poker game with his friend, John Warriner, and won big when he met Sandi Henning.  She flew for Braniff and had come in from an all night flight to see her boyfriend who was hosting the game.  A couple of months later Tom was at John’s sister’s apartment for a party and Sandi and her roommate came in the front door.  Knowing Sandi had just broken up with her boyfriend, John whisked her off to meet his buddy Tom.  As he made the introductions, Tom put his arm around Sandi and whirled her around actually sweeping her off her feet before John could even get her name out.  It was love at 2^nd sight…Tom says he knew she was the one the first time he laid eyes on her at the poker game.  When they went dancing on their first date and danced the North Texas push as one…their destiny was sealed.  On their second date, he gave her the diamond ring his mama had given him for his twenty-first birthday, and proposed two and a-half weeks later.

First he had to introduce her to his daughter and gave Sandi the warning…she may not take well to having someone else on our daddy/daughter date, but the moment she got in the car, Sam and Sandi were instant friends and spent the day running and laughing at Fair Park, with Daddy following along buying the tickets for rides.  That was the seal of approval.  Then he had to run her by his best friends, Mike Glass, Dick Squire, John Holden, John Warriner, Smokey Moore, Jim Gallemore and Dennis Thomas.  They were in shock he planned to marry so quickly, but once they met her, they loved her too.

Tom and Sandi bought a house at 4327 Bluffview and a wedding ring one week after the proposal and were married two months later in Longview, Texas, in a blinding snow storm December 6, 1969.  They spent their honeymoon in Aspen, Colorado, followed by Ruidoso, New Mexico, and a trip to Hawaii.  Sandi’s pass privileges with Braniff would take them all over the world.

The night they wed Tom began growing his beard and only cut it off twice in his life… once when he was applying for an SBA loan (he also bought a clip on tie for the occasion) and once when his Daddy dared him to.  He was a clothes horse…sporting a double breasted white suit, seal-skin boots and of course, in the 70’s, bellbottom pants and NikNik shirts.  Sandi thought he was adorable…her jaws literally ached from constantly grinning.

GOTCHA COVERED

A year into their marriage Jack Lairsen offered Tom a position with his company, Margo La Mode, to start a junior division.  They called it Tom’s Body Shop.  Tom became a designer and was always well ahead of the fickle junior market.  Hot pants were in style and Tom produced the “Star Pant” with a red panel, a blue and a white, with a big Texas star on the right cheek, and a new “Star” in the apparel industry was born.

With fellow Vice President, Ken Wiley, Tom separated from Margo La Mode, April 1971, and started a new junior line called “Gotcha Covered”.  It became the second fashion jean line in America after Happy Leggs.  He was on the cutting edge of the industry and success came quickly. With sewing plants in Killeen, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee, a firecracker sales force, Tom’s eye for design and Ken’s talents for production, sales skyrocketed, doubling annually.  Gotcha Covered fit better than any jean on the market…they were the talk of the industry, the supermarket and the super savvy.

ON ANY SUNDAY MOTORCYCLE PARK

Always looking for adventure, Tom and Sandi partnered with Dallas Cowboy, Charlie Waters, and first wife, Mary Ann, to open a 350 acre motorcycle park named On Any Sunday (taken from the movie title) on the peak of Cedar Hill.  You could see the lights of both Dallas and Fort Worth in the distance.  Dallas Cowboy Dan Reeves was on the Board of Directors.  Every weekend found them cutting trails and riding dirt bikes; sleeping in the big cabin on the peak; cooking out and charging admission for the best riding and camping in the area, with it’s five ponds, open fields covered in four foot tall sunflowers, gullies, ravines, big and little hills and sheer cliffs.  Hill climb champs from all over Texas and adjoining states came to try and conquer Mission Impossible.  The short run across the creek bed, followed by a slippery slope, then what seemed like a mile of straight up loose shale and finally a curled back lip that tossed even the best back on their ear and leather buns….if they were able to make it that close to the summit. Those skilled or lucky enough to crest that backwards crag, landed in various forms of pain and separation from transportation. To this day, only Tom made it over the top still on his bike. This he would accomplish five times. The fun and excitement of the On Any Sunday motorcycle park lasted but a year or until the town folks rode ‘em out on a rail so to speak…didn’t want those hippies in town.

WASHED UP AND WASHED CLEAN

With the success of Gotcha Covered came a big fancy showroom at the Apparel Mart, a condo in Colorado, skiing five or six times a year, fast cars and custom trucks, a houseboat and jet boat on Lake Texoma, an entourage of friends, a beautiful 6000 square foot home on almost two acres in north Dallas and misery.  Tom said he had it all, but wasn’t happy.  He went to see Dr. Henry Mobley, who told him… “Tom, you’re looking for God.” …to which Tom answered, “Henry, don’t you just have any pills?”  Doc Mobley told him to go home and get Sandi’s Bible and read the Gospels…the first four books of the New Testament and to pray before reading that God would show him the truth….then to read them again and by the time he finished he’d know if Jesus was who He said He was or if He was the craziest S.O.B. that ever walked the face of the earth.  Tom took the challenge, and three weeks later Tom told Sandi… “I have a surprise for you.”  With the summer of ’77 had come new sunshine, peace and joy, he had accepted Christ as his Saviour.  Hallelujah!  Sandi now had the husband she thought she’d married.

Tom had always been the life of the party…fueled by the drive to succeed, a quick wit and alcohol.  People were automatically drawn to his good looks, his now six foot two stature, his honesty, generosity, sense of humor, quest for adventure and endless energy…but now they were awestruck by this new transformation.  There was definitely something different.  Tom was more fun to be with than ever but no longer needed a drink to enforce his magnetic personality, drive his intense work ethic, or cement his friendships.  He was high on life….full of the Holy Spirit…open to the direction God would lead him…and sharing his testimony freely.  God had saved his life. 

At the velocity he’d been traveling, Tom had never expected to live past thirty.  Then at what should have been a golden age of focus, maturity and direction, just when he’d turned thirty and felt life had no rudder, he had met Sandi, and suddenly life had taken on meaning.  Now six years later he met Jesus, and the whole world was brand new.  Trees were greener…life was sweeter…any challenge was met with determination, prayer and even joy.

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S YOGURT

The next challenge…what would be the next rodeo?  He’d sold his half of Gotcha Covered to his partner and was seeking a new venture… and new adventure.

While out jogging one day, it struck him…every trip he and Sandi went on turned into a frozen yogurt hunt…Sandi was hooked.  The only yogurt available in Texas was a not-so-tasty grocery store version called Frogurt.  The east and west coasts were the leading markets in fashion, entertainment and trends, and soft frozen yogurt was now the cutting edge product.  Tom wanted to beat the market in introducing it to the third coast….Texas.  They flew to California to taste every yogurt available, deciding on Johnston’s, because of its creamy ice-cream-like texture and flavor…which was unlike the tart product of competitors.

In 1977 he and Sandi opened the first yogurt store in Texas and the Southwest, I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt, on Lovers Lane and began educating Dallas to the properties of this miraculous blend of live bacteria and yummy dessert.  Women loved it, but men weren’t as easily persuaded.  They still wanted their cholesterol and calories found in their favorite tub of ice cream, no matter the consequences.  Though once tasted, I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt became a family staple.  Tom knew to be successful, franchising was the key. Their #1 hand was19 year old bookkeeper Holly Webb, who became a life-long friend. While Sandi developed menus and handled operations, Tom looked for new locations and cook-booked the business for franchising. (Meanwhile, a family came into the store, taking in every detail and ended up opening a carbon copy called TCBY a year later… “This Can’t Be Yogurt”, but after legal suit, changed it to “The Country’s Best Yogurt”.) After Tom and Sandi opened their second location in Old Town on Greenville Avenue and started their third on Coit north of LBJ Freeway, they both wanted out.  Tom realized for the same effort required to sell a sixty-nine cent cone, he could be selling sixty-nine dozen pair of jeans, and that his and Sandi’s only dates were on a motorcycle looking for new locations, so it was an easy decision when their lawyer’s partner wanted to buy the stores and franchise research and development for his son and daughter to complete their SMU business education. No one was happier for them than Tom and Sandi when the new owners were guests on Oprah’s “Young Millionaires” show and sold I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt ten years after purchase for fourteen million dollars.

BACK IN FASHION

Tom had prayed to be out of the garment industry as well, but the Lord kept leading him back.  In 1980 Tom geared up for another fashion jean line called A.Fox.  The logo was simply Tom’s handwriting or printing, as he always printed everything he wrote. In 1981, he began making tee shirts for Gilley’s, touted as the world’s largest honky-tonk, located in Pasadena, Texas.  Sandi was taking an airbrush course at the Fashion and Art Institute and the two were designing tees.  Then a deal was swung with Gilley’s owner, Sherwood Crier, to do a jean line for country star, Micky Gilley.  Tom reunited with long time friend, Bunny Bridges, and a guy best known as Mad Dog Cox to produce Gilley’s Jeans.  With a concert and style show in the Great Hall of the Dallas Apparel Mart starring Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee, the new line was a smashing success… at wholesale. They produced a commercial filmed in Gilley’s, starring Sandi as the Debra Winger character and did a take-off on the popular movie, Urban Cowboy. The stores who bought the full package…commercials, Mickey Gilley and Johnny Lee on site for autographs… did well …the stores that didn’t come on board at full throttle, bombed with the merchandise.  Tom and Bunny decided to go out on their own.  The plus side….  Tom and Sandi and Bunny and Judy became best friends; they each got an awesome, never released Mickey Gilley gospel tape; Sandi did the two-step with Mickey Gilley on TV; Janet, their pattern maker, got to date Johnny Lee, and they all survived Mad Dawg.

Tom kept doing what he knew best….God had given him an incredible gift of fashion sense and design, and even though he didn’t understand the reason, he found himself back in the industry.  On January 2, 1982, Tom jumped out of bed and announced, “Year of the Champ!”  And a fashion warm-up line was born, simply called, Champ…this go-round, converting Tom and Sandi’s garage into office space.  Again…no employees; only one contract laborer…the pattern maker, Janine, from Gotcha Covered days….goods were sewn off site and sold, packed and shipped from Tom and Sandi’s garage, turned office.  Tom typed the invoices, made the shipping labels and once again found himself in the whatever-needs-doin’ mode of his Mama’s truck stop, only this time he was learning the business at every level.  It was an exercise in patience and diligence.  Little did Tom realize at the time, God was preparing him for bigger things, for without the focus and hands-on in every area of the business, he would never have been ready for what came next.

THE GREAT RACE

Tom had set up a talented young man, David Krueger, in a custom car painting business, Iron Horse Ltd, in 1978, and while shopping supplies at an auto parts store one day, a fellow had asked whose vehicle that was out front, saying he sure could use a paint job like that for the hotrod he raced on weekends…and a life long friendship began.  Curtis Graf and wife Faye became Tom and Sandi’s best friends, and Curtis was adopted as Tom’s partner in auto excitement, yielding twenty-five years of adventures with many an impromptu cross-country journey or trans-Atlantic search for a rare car or part.    And it wasn’t uncommon to pull all-nighters on an auto repair or build. So it came as no surprise to Tom when Curtis called and said, “McRae, you ain’t gonna believe this!”

The year was 1982.   Curtis was about to jump through the phone.  He had a flyer in his hand announcing, “The Great American Race”, May 1983, LA to Indy, $250,000 in prizes for a pre-war vehicle competition.  Curtis had recently purchased about 6000 pounds of rust and assorted scrap iron that some guy sold him to be a 1935 Twin-Six Packard.

In Tom’s words, published in the annual Great Race Program/Yearbook and in thousands of pamphlets passed out in hundreds of cities.  This from the 20^th Anniversary Program:

“We rushed to the race office and signed up.  Turned out we were the first (and only) entrants, and come to find out later, the flyer was the whole deal….that’s all there was, but the mad dash that followed began the wildest ride of my life. While Curtis plunged headlong into restoration of the Packard from frame up, I pulled my old friend, Norman “Bubba” Miller, into a partnership to buy out the original race promoter.   Before we knew it, the race was ours.  As we started adding up the figures, we discovered we would have to risk at least $500,000 more than originally planned…for an event most of our associates agreed could not happen.

“We didn’t know the first thing about staging and promoting a rally race.  Of the two people Bubba and I knew who were into old cars, one of them…Curtis…was our only entry!  And we were about to announce to the world that people should mail us a $5000 entry fee, meet us in California in May, and race to Indianapolis in hopes of winning part of $250,000 in prize money.  This was to be promoted to a hobby riddled with scams by individuals unknown in the market.  Think about it!

“My friend Bubba did!  Minutes before the press releases were mailed he said, ‘Tom, how many cars you got to have to have a race?’ …I  paused, ‘bout 20.’

“What would it cost if we had to rent or buy 20 cars:”

“For the first time I realized that once the announcement went out, we were committed…totally.  I winced and came up with a figure.  Bubba suddenly asked, ‘McRae, will this thing work?’

“The question stopped me cold.  It was the point of no return.  I sat quietly for a minute.  ‘If God wants it to, it will.” Bubba lit up.  ‘that’s right.  And if He doesn’t want it, we don’t want it, right?”

“Right!  Let’s pray about it.”

“We immediately prayed, committing the race to God, asking Him to stop us if it wasn’t in His will, but to open closed doors if it was.  The rest is history.

“We mailed off those first press releases and…BOOM!...LeRoy ‘Tex’ Smith, then publisher of Old Cars Weekly, ran it as front page lead story.  We were buried with 350 skeptical phone calls the following week.  A few entries started rollin’ in, each one was cause for great celebration.

“Being very naïve, I called Indianapolis track officials asking about a victory lap for our guys following our finish which happened to be the Friday of 500 week.  ‘Are you kidding?  We have cars goin 200 mph out there!’  I called the 500 Festival folks and offered our cars for their parade, and got a condescending, ‘Thank you very much, but the parade is full.’  The Indianapolis police were more descriptive when I asked for a police escort:  ‘Man, you must be crazy!  We’ll have 400,000 fans in town, most of them drinking and partying.  You ever been here on Indy weekend?  You probably won’t get through town with wheels left on those old cars.  Remember if you guys come, don’t call us, my guys are working double shifts, our hands are full.’

“We also had the bright idea of getting actor Tony Curtis, the star of the movie, The Great Race, to drive in the race.  Tony couldn’t be found; even his Hollywood agent didn’t know his whereabouts.  Things were looking dim. It was nearly March, and we had no place to start and no place to finish.  L.A. couldn’t care less, Indy didn’t want us, entries were slow, and where on earth was Tony Curtis?

“Along the way, God started pushing the buttons. Bubba came up with the name and number of a contact in Indianapolis and my daughter’s college roommate ran across Tony Curtis in Europe!  The Indianapolis man, Bob Wilds, turned out to be a gift from heaven with the keys to Indy, and Tony Curtis said, ‘Count me in!’

“The results?  Sixty-nine hearty souls paid the $5000 entry fee and seven days after a grand send off at Knott’s Berry Farm near L.A., 62 racers arrived in Indy. Indy’s 32-officer National Champion Motorcycle Drill Team shut down 5 p.m. drive-time traffic, escorted the Great Racers to the Indy 500 track for a victory lap, then through downtown, around Monument Circle, and on to our hotel.  Sixteen of our cars joined the Indy Festival Parade on Saturday, and Tony Curtis, an old friend by now, was featured along with our Race winner in a special victory lap around the world-famous Brickyard in an official Indy pace car convertible just minutes before the running of the 500!  The first Great Race had roared from nowhere into national prominence.

“In 20 years, the Great Race has logged close to 6,000,000 vehicle miles; been the center of free family celebrations in more than 750 cities on the North American continent; and given away over $5,000,000 in prize money.  Drivers and navigators from the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Australia, Japan, England, Belgium, Germany, India, New Zealand and Switzerland have competed in vintage machines dating from 1902 – 1959…thundering out of the past…awesome to the young, sweet nostalgia for the seniors and great adventure for the folks in between.  They’ve delivered their mechanical works of art in the world’s most prestigious old car race in celebrity status to the open arms and hearts of over 5,000,000 governors, mayors, beauty queens and fans across America, with stops including The Ellipse at the White House, The Statue of Liberty Centennial Celebration, Main Street – Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the Reforma in Mexico City, the Grand Canyon and a parade down Broadway, New York.

“It’s a Great Race; there’s nothing else quite like it!”

(To be continued –  page 42)

Along the way, The Great Race was title-sponsored by Interstate Batteries, MBNA, Corel and The History Channel, with Associate sponsors, Disney, Goodyear, American Airlines, Buick, Chevy Trucks, Zerex, Hemmings Motor News, Qualcomm Communications and Navy Recruiting.  For eleven years, The Washington DC Navy Ceremonial marching band that plays for the President of the United States performed three times daily in their dress whites for The Great Race fans in the gates at lunch stops and overnights and gave special concerts each evening on town squares and capitol lawns across the nation…playing The National Anthem, God Bless America, The Battle Hymn of the Republic and popular songs of America’s history. Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops marched into the gate with American flags waving and led the crowd in The Pledge of Allegiance. And in every gate for twenty years, Tom led crowds of 1000 to 100,000 in prayer, always punctuated with a, “And all God’s children said…” And the crowd would yell, “AMEN!” Twenty years of Great Race adventures were chronicled in annual documentaries produced by Tom and filmed and written by an extraordinarily talented Mike Ewing and Tom to be aired on cable channels such as ESPN.

Seems Tom was in a race of one kind or another all his life, and with each vision came the thrill of stretching beyond the box, expanding horizons, encompassing family and friends, new and old in the most exciting and challenging adventures.  Sandi’s mom and dad, Letrice and AJ Henning, and aunt and uncle, Gene and Pauline Moore, were on check point crew for some twelve plus years; his daughter Sam came on board in marketing in 1990, a position which developed to Vice President in 1998; his sister, Sister, sold her insurance business to come work for her brother full time after her cross country adventure as volunteer staff in 1989; and Sandi’s brothers and wives, Dale and Shery Henning and Mark Henning and his first wife took part in the action on both check point crew and souvenir sales, along with her cousin Paula Vaughn and some of Sandi’s best friends, Donna Jackson, Darlene McNatt, Patti Brooks and Susan Sorensen, who partnered  individually with Sandi on the photo and video teamilm crewred on Sandi' and souvenir sales, heir house in Pecan for dinner. ttendedote' mile of straight up loose shale and fin .  Tom always told his staff that grew from eight to ten full time to 60 or 90 once a year, including the volunteers, “It’s like running away with the circus but you gotta clean up after the elephants…it’s a lot of fun, but a lot of work.”

God always gifted Tom with an awesome staff, and he appreciated them all.  Every staff member and volunteer was important to the success of the event.  One that Tom would want mentioned is Stoney Pryor, who came in 1991 as a nineteen year old and immediately became Tom’s Swat Team for the remainder of their Great Racing years.  Tom valued his friendship, work ethic and Christian witness.  His story is on the web:  www.uptopranch.com.  The incredible staff are too numerous to mention, but Tom would say  Martha Gibson, Mitzi Korcala, Diane Schofield, were invaluable; Don Curry did a little or a lot of everything – whatever was needed; Joe Mullens was a good hand; John Classen’s course writing was perfect; nobody could pound out a story like Phil Cole; the volunteers and hired guns were amazing; and without the strength, tenacity, love and shear, tireless will with which Sam handled the cities and sponsors and Sister the entrants, the Race would have been but a shadow of it’s glory… and that he (Tom) couldn’t have done it without Grampa Stanfield, who drove and prayed him across the country in the haul truck on many a Race. 

      Tom always said (since he came to realize it, anyway), “Anyone who doesn’t have God in their business is a fool.”

GRANBURY AND THE GREAT RACE HALL OF FAME

The move to Granbury was Tom and Sandi’s next God ordained moment in time, for in their search for a new home for the Great Race and a place to preserve its history, promotional packets were sent to Addison, Arlington, Grapevine, North Richland Hills,  McKinney and The Texas Motor Speedway, but Granbury had been overlooked.  1995 Granbury Chamber of Commerce President, John Helsley, heard about the plans and asked for an appointment.  He showed up at the plush Coit & LBJ offices with both guns blazing…a video presentation including on-screen invitations from the Mayor, City Manager, Economic Development and business leaders of the community.   He wouldn’t take “No,” for an answer.

The new home of the Great Race and museum was about to be located in the old Vandergriff Chevrolet building across from Johnny High’s in Arlington.  The city had agreed to do a two million dollar restoration on the building to suit Great Race needs and personal design…the architectural renderings had been completed…..the Great Race corporate offices and a museum would be promoted by the City of Arlington along with the other attractions, including Six Flags, The Wax Museum and water park.  But with Granbury romancing them, they had to take a look.

Tom took his staff on a Granbury outing in MOAB (Mother of All Buses), a 1920 Yellowstone open touring bus that seats eleven, and fell in love with the small town charm in this turn of the century setting…a perfect environment in which to showcase automotive history.  The only problem…the museum would need to be located on the Historic Square and no buildings were available.  Within the week he received a call from John Helsley.  The Mitchell-Tipton building (home of the last privately owned International Harvester dealership) located at 114 N. Crockett St. on the Historic Square had become available due to Mr. Tipton’s going home to be with the Lord that very week. 

Many of Granbury’s leaders and residents, including new friend, Julia Pannell, became involved in acquiring for Granbury The Great Race Automotive Hall of Fame, in which world class Great Race vehicles from around the globe were exhibited and the Great Race Corporate offices were located.  Not all the staff was able to move, but Sister bought her Granbury home in October 1996 and Tom and Sandi were finally able to sell their 4830 W. Northwest Hwy home and move to Granbury April 15, 1998.

The following October, friend Weston Blair approached Tom with the availability of his building located at 110 N. Crockett Street next door to the Hall of Fame.  The current tenants had first option; Tom and Sandi would be next in line.  They prayed about it and asked the Lord to give the building to the tenants if that was His will; that whatever the Lord willed was their desire.  Papers were signed November 2^nd, and Tom immediately began a remodel to lease the upstairs and down as a package deal. Earlier that year they had purchased a gorgeous lot in the Summerlin Edition on Lake Granbury north of town, had the boat dock almost built and were about to break ground on a new home, when God dropped the idea straight out of heaven at church one Sunday… “Why don’t you just live upstairs!”

With the $39 Broderbund Home Architect Deluxe computer program Tom had given Sandi, they switched gears and their new home, The UpTop Ranch (the only zero-lot-line ranch in Texas), on The Square was born.  Sandi was the architect and Tom, the general contractor…or as he liked to be called…the blacksmith and sanitation engineer.

It was the latter, in his favorite uniform of denim overalls…one shoulder grippered…one dangling…that new Granbury residents, Russ and Wendy Hearn, found on their first day of exploring the Square.  Tom was deep into tearing out what wasn’t needed on the ground floor and fixing what needed fixing and adding what needed adding to prep for prospective lessees.

GRANBURY LIVE

FROM: “HOW IT BEGAN” www.granburylive.com published 2002

Halloween weekend, 1998, Russ and Wendy Hearn drove into downtown Granbury from their new home in Pecan Plantation to "cruise the Square" and catch a play at the Opera House. They had a chance(?) meeting with Tom McRae, who was descending makeshift stairs from the loft of the building that is now Granbury Live. Tom enthusiastically welcomed the young couple to Granbury and in the course of conversation invited Russ and Wendy to join a weekly Bible study.

Russ and Wendy attended the bible study when possible as they were traveling extensively performing with “The Really Big Show", a corporate band. On one occasion Russ mentioned a current pet project, setting scripture to music. Tom invited Russ to perform for the Bible study group and Russ accommodated with only an acoustic guitar for accompaniment. The entire group was most impressed.

A few weeks following, Tom and Sandi joined the Hearns for dinner, and during the meal Russ casually inquired if Tom had ever considered putting music in the empty space that is now Granbury Live. Tom's reply, "Boy, I like music." Editor note: Tom, a life-long entrepreneur, had previously researched the possibility of bringing music to Granbury but discarded the idea for lack of personal musical talent and any good connections in the music industry. In addition, based upon initial research, the project would require at least $1,000,000 cash, which Tom didn't have.

That same night on the Hearn's kitchen table, a rough pro-forma for the new venture was developed and a deal consummated with a handshake. Wendy Hearn recalls, "I left the room to put the baby (Faith) to bed, came back, and we were in business!" Following the hand-shake, Tom and Sandi, Russ and Wendy joined hands and committed their new business to glorify and honor Christ. Eight weeks later Granbury Live opened. Three years later the performers have played to a standing ovation every single performance.

Tom McRae: "For the second time in my life I took on an impossible business venture but invited God into the driver's seat. The Goals: Build a theater from scratch in eight weeks for around $75,000; put 4 star productions on stage 50 weeks a year and find the talent to do it in a few days. The Realities: I had never built a theater; Five weeks into construction we were 5 times the original budget; The electrical cost alone equaled our total original budget; I had never heard my partner perform on stage; Russ's band was not coming to Granbury.  God's Blessings: We opened on schedule; God sent Russ, a creative genius, an incredible cadre of talent to form the core of a Granbury Live family; We have played to a standing ovation every performance since opening; Patrons tell me, on a weekly basis, Granbury Live productions are as good or better than any... anywhere. There is more but I am out of room. God has given us exceedingly and abundantly beyond all we could ask or think! Ephesians 3:20."

Though the Race had been some of the most exciting years of their lives with its life-long friendships, one-of-a-kind adventures and incredible opportunities and memories, Granbury Live became Tom’s favorite of all his endeavors.  Like the Great Race, Granbury Live promoted good clean fun; patriotism; love of God, family and country.  The mission statement drafted on a napkin around Russ and Wendy’s kitchen table said it all:  “Granbury Live showcases professional family entertainment within the traditional guidelines of Christian values.”   Amazing Grace, Tom’s favorite song, is sung near the close of every concert; veterans are recognized and asked to stand and hold their candles high to the thunderous, appreciative applause of audiences.  Tom’s partner, Russ, and his life-long friend, Kerry Brown, penned “The Flame of Freedom” to say “thank you” to the American soldier.  Moist eyes, swollen chests, happy hearts and dancing feet exit with nearly every Granbury Live fan, who crosses the threshold.

One of Tom’s favorite stories was of the Friday after 9-11…during the patriotic medley…there on the front row were two couples waving their American flags…the American spirit couldn’t be broken.  New friends and fans Jim and G Poulis and Clete and Diane Brown exemplified the heart of Americans in the wake of tragedy.  And from that day forward in every concert, Granbury Live pauses for a moment of silent prayer to ask God to protect our troops, preserve our freedom and give us the victory.

Tom loved emceeing and engaging the audience.  He enlisted Sandi to be his Vanna.  They warmed up the audiences for every concert with trivia questions posed by Tom and Granbury Live dollars given away by Sandi.  But one of the things he loved most….no stress….no people problems. From the moment they opened their doors, November 26, 1999, everyone on board truly loved each other; supported one another; worked hard to do their best and honor the Lord with the gifts and talent’s He’d given them. He wouldn’t have me name a few….He treasured them ALL. Granbury Live had become a family...and…it was fun!

IN TOM’S OWN WORDS

Published 2002 for www.granburylive.com

"Do what you love well enough, and someone will pay you to do it." Beginning with a shoeshine stand at age 11, Tom's colorful career includes founding or co-founding, Gotcha Covered, America's second fashion jean company; Gilley's Jeans; I Can't Believe It's Yogurt, a first in Texas; The Great American Race, the antique car transcontinental classic; and most recently, Granbury Live. "Each endeavor, other than yogurt, has been an outgrowth of a passion; follow your heart and never be bored.”

“In 1954 my best friend, a young musician, discovered Elvis on the jukebox. He became an Elvis impersonator at local talent shows while I equally as passionate about Elvis but tone deaf, carried his guitar and watched while ‘Elvis’ rocked the house. Fifty years later, God has allowed me to be ‘on-stage with Elvis’ and I'm getting paid to do it! Best of all, I share it all with my best friend, mentor and wife of 33 years ...Sandi aka, Vanna.”

FLYING HORSE UPHOLSTERY

Flying Horse Upholstery began as a small upholstery business located in Tom’s shop behind Celebration Hall (once the Great Race Hall of Fame building).  The extraordinarily talented Dennis Horning could do ANYTHING with upholstery.  Tom partnered with Dennis to form Flying Horse Upholstery, then brought in retired Air Force Colonel, Jackie Vaughn, and moved the business out to the Granbury Municipal Airport where people pilot their planes in from around the country for upholstery work and others show up with a sofa in the bed of their pick-up.  If it can be upholstered, Flying Horse can do it and do it well.

Mc3/INFINITI DÉCOR

Tom partnered with good friend, John McCauley, and his brother, Coby, to form Mc3.  The name taken from Einstein’s deep connection discovered between energy and mass, E = Mc2.  And since there were three Mc’s in the business….he named it Mc3.  Tom was impressed with the work John had done for Great Race, the Great Race Hall of Fame and Granbury Live, including the art deco design for the theater, and looked forward to taking a little sign company to the next level.  The Mc3 division, Infiniti Décor, designed, produced and installed retail interiors and exteriors.  When Tom left, the company was still in its start up pangs and just about to crest the wave. 

THINGS OF IMPORTANCE

Tom had a great appreciation for so many things.  When he believed in something, it was with all his heart; when he took on a project, it was with total, unbridled passion; and when he was swept up in the joy of the moment, the exhilaration of a challenge, the thrill of success, he wanted you to be swept up too…to have your heart beat faster with anticipation and excitement…to have you reap the benefits of success…and most of all, to be all that you could be…all that God intended you to be by His divine design, gifts and talents, will for your life.  And Tom was available to help you achieve it….loved being used as a tool of the Lord…loved helping his friends and family and, yes, even strangers, and loved knowing they knew the Lord.

Many times, Sandi had witnessed him actually giving the shirt off his back, or jacket, or watch, or giving of his time to renovate a building, build a fence, haul some hay, detail a car, fix a flat…the list is long…the memory short.  And many times she saw him give someone the emotional support they needed…laughing with them, crying with them, praying with them, encouraging them.

DOING YOUR BEST

Tom was big on doing your best.  If it was worth doing, it was not only worth doing well, it was worth doing awesomely!  He had the ability to make anything look regal, first class….and on a budget.  And most of this came from hands-on….being involved in the project, start to finish, and also being aware of his abilities and inabilities.  He would try just about anything, and if he didn’t know how to do it, he’d learn.  If that didn’t work, he’d surround himself with someone who could do it well.  This included his Dallas Apparel Mart showrooms, the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt stores, The Great Race image and Granbury Live.  The man was full of resources…if he couldn’t do it, he knew someone who could.  As his friend, Carey Dyer, once said, “Tom is the only person I know who can get anything done in three phone calls or less.” 

In the late 70’s, Dallas experienced one of its worst ice storms.  Much of the city was without electricity.  While most people were buying the stores out of rock salt, flashlights and lanterns, Tom was buying a couple of chainsaws and a book on pruning trees.  That was the year he learned to drink coffee.  He spent days in the freezing weather in a ski parka, long-johns and overalls, learning to save their close to two acres of trees whose once full, magnificent boughs were bent almost double from the weight of the ice with the potential to snap at any moment.  He was going to save them, and he was going to learn to do it right…determined to do his best.  Tom loved trees and truly suffered if one died or was maimed.  From that experience forward, he would remark if he saw a tree that hadn’t been pruned correctly…and how it would likely die…and how sad it was.  When he moved across the street from the courthouse in Granbury, he always used to brag about how the government was now doing his lawn…till one day he looked out the window to find them pruning trees…incorrectly.  He bolted out the door to give them a lesson then called the city… “We can’t lose these trees!...they’ve got to be pruned right.”

And Tom was the first to inspire others to do their best as well.  So many people have told stories of Tom’s influence on their lives…helping them become better…encouraging them…inspiring them.  Many of these stories can be read on www.uptopranch.com.

PERFECTION

Perfectionism can be both a blessing and a curse.  For Tom, it was a blessing.  For those around him…well, it could be considered either, because he not only expected it of himself, he expected it of others.  Kane Wai tells the story of his first Great Race experience.  The first duty he encountered as a Great Race volunteer was to assist in the application of the large logo door decals to the 34 Chevy staff vehicles…that’s 68 doors… on loan from Chevrolet.  When Tom arrived on the scene, Kane was shown the art of applying decals with a mist of Windex and a credit card and was asked to redo the 20 some-odd he’d already done.  If it had the Great Race name on it, it had to be perfect!  And Kane learned it perfectly and became a good hand.

The same held true for every letter, article, piece of literature or artwork that represented Great Race…again…perfection…it had to come across Tom’s desk before it was released.  To some people this would be the only representation they would see of Great Race…what would their impression be if it was not perfect!

MAKING IT BETTER

Uncanny…Tom had the most uncanny ability to take anything and make it better, whether it was a sentence, an outfit, a piece of equipment or you. 

A sentence:  He believed in the economy of words in print.  Concise makes it better. Don’t clutter the ad.  Give them the meat.  And when it came to asking Tom for something or selling him on something…once he had said, “Yes.”, take the order and run…don’t keep belaboring the point or you could talk yourself out of the assent.  Time to move on to the next project.  You don’t waste time talking when there’s work to be done. 

An outfit:  The pant hemline had to be almost touching the floor in the back and cut at an angle to give it just the right break in front.  There was probably nothing that drove him crazier than pants that were too short, unless it was black socks with white tennis shoes.  And Sandi never owned a pair of sunglasses or a hat that Tom didn’t reshape.  Many a friend would end up talking around the stove while Tom steamed his hat into the proper shape over a pot of boiling water.  He’d say, “Here, let me fix that for you.” …and he would.  He had a God-given eye for color and design, knew what was hot and what was not and could always make it better.

A piece of equipment:  Whether it was turning his Mom’s car into a hot rod, putting a computer chip in his haul truck for more power, or taking apart and reassembling gadgets, Tom was on it the minute it was out of the box it came in.  With some gadgets, he would only read the instructions long enough to learn to set the alarm, then Sandi would have to listen to it going off in the night for years.  Design intrigued him…what made it tick…and how could it tick better or faster!

You:  Well…if you’re reading this, you probably have a story of your own to share.  How did Tom influence some area of your life to become better?  Send it and I’ll post it on www.uptopranch.com or perhaps include it another edition of his story.

OPINIONS

No one ever accused Tom of not having an opinion.  In fact he had an opinion on about any subject…an opinion that could be formed on the spot or one he’d taken a life-time to perfect.  The thing was…most of his opinions were dead-on accurate.  Now judgment, that was another animal… one he fought throughout his adult life…for Tom was quick to judge, something the Lord warns not to do…and something that would remain a continual battle for Tom.  From why on earth did that person wear that; don’t they know how it makes them look…to…how could they have possibly made that decision…there is no wisdom in it…to…he’s never thought out of the box, what makes you think he’s going to start now.

FORGIVENESS

As quick as Tom was to judge…so was he to forgive…and to ask forgiveness.  The moment Tom realized he was wrong, he owned up to it.  He asked forgiveness.  “I’m sorry.” came both genuinely and honestly.  He hated being wrong, but he hated worse being wrong and not making it right.  It would absolutely eat at him until he addressed the issue.  Once he was side swiped on Northwest Highway in the new vintage 1967 silver Mercedes 450 SL convertible with red interior he’d just bought for Sandi.  Obviously the other fellow’s fault, Tom jumped out of the car and just really berated him.  How was he going to bring Sandi’s new car home with the side all bashed in.  He wasn’t home five minutes till he picked up the phone and called the name on the card he’d been given.  “I’m sorry, I’ve just become a new Christian, and the old ways are a little hard to shake.  I was wrong to yell at you.  I shouldn’t have made the situation worse by my actions.  Will you forgive me?”

Turns out the very next Sunday in Bill Lawrence’s Sunday School Class of about 500 at Northwest Bible, who walks in, but the offender…a nice church-going Christian with a family.  Boy was Tom glad he’d already made the call and been forgiven.

And if you asked Tom to forgive a wrong…well…the Bible says we must forgive 70 times 7.  Sandi once saw him forgive a huge debt and offense and never mention it again.  He even later tried to lead the offender to Christ by bringing him the book, “More Than A Carpenter” and talking to him about the Lord and salvation.

Tom always said, “If you don’t forgive someone, they own you every day of your life.”  The other fellow isn’t bothered about how much you’re hurting, but you’re eaten up inside, returning to the cause of the pain, over and over and over…it can make you a bitter old man….or you can forgive….and forget…and be free!  Tom chose freedom over bondage every time.  It didn’t mean it was an easy process, just the only one.

HONESTY

If you couldn’t be honest, you weren’t worth keeping.  Tom would give folks a chance over and over, encouraging them, guiding them, helping them, but the first time they lied to him, it was over.  If you couldn’t be honest, he didn’t want you around.  If a fellow would lie, what else would he do, and how much respect did he have for you or for himself or for others or for his work.  What kind of relationship would that breed.  A no win one.  If one would just be honest in a mistake, mistakes could be forgiven…lying…well…that’s a hard one to forgive….and if forgiven, didn’t mean a relationship had to be maintained.  You can forgive and forget the offense and the offender.

WORK ETHIC

When God made Tom, he gave him dual carbs, extra under the hood and high octane to run on….in other words….he made Tom a Type A.  He could burn the candle at both ends, get 10 things done at once while focusing intently with tunnel vision on a single project.  He held no patience for the weak-minded or weak-fueled.  To Tom, strength came in the doing and the doing well…performing his best….as promised…on time…if not before.  No clock watching…you had to believe in your work and believe it to be a grand project worthy of your time, commitment, excitement and effort.  And in the process you could infect as many as were in your environment with the same ethic, but it had to set in to take hold and bubble up from their innards, the desire to work hard, commit, create, inspire, finish well.  And when they did well, he was the first to notice.  It was expected of them, and when they delivered, he was pleased.  Again…surround yourself with strong, talented, capable, wise people with a good work ethic and you will succeed and find joy in the process.

RESPECT

There is in the equation however…how you treat your fellow man.  That’s where respect, a sense of humor, praise and encouragement come in.  Tom respected those who performed well either by their deeds, their skills, their ethics or beliefs.  He observed how they treated others…it was a great barometer of character…how someone measured up in these areas.  Tom would be the first to admit…though he was respectful, had a great sense of humor and was a great encourager….oft times his praise was tardy….didn’t mean he didn’t feel proud of someone and their accomplishments, just meant he already knew they were going to do well, he had great faith in their abilities and their tenacity to see it through…now let’s hustle on to the next big project and get it done well.  It meant he had so much confidence in someone, he would often forget to tell them so….more or less taking for granted the expected outcome based on their personality and performance record.  If he had a regret, it would be not saying often enough how proud he was…how very proud he was of so many in his life.  If he doubted someone’s abilities, he would help them over the hump, boost the learning curve, encourage…or if he felt they just couldn’t cut it, look for their strengths to be used in other areas and find someone else for the job at hand…but if there was a personality or learning flaw, he might just cut bait…so likely, if you were around, he was proud of you in one way or another.

Respect was important to Tom.  He respected men and women of high moral standards; those who served our country; the American flag; and the office of President of the United States.  He was particularly proud of President George W. Bush, his integrity, his faith and his leadership.

And it was important to Tom to respect your body, mind and spirit.  Don’t watch movies or television that’s riddled with drugs, abuse, bad language, depression.  He believed the theory, “Garbage in – garbage out.”  No R-rated movies for him and Sandi!  And don’t be caught anywhere, doing anything you wouldn’t want to share with Jesus.

FAIRNESS

If you ever had any dealings with Tom, you know he was fair.  He wanted life and all who are in it to be win/win.  Every business deal he negotiated or struck had to be a winner for both sides, otherwise he wanted no part of it.  If you’re both winning, it will succeed.  And many times he helped others to win in a deal or situation in life in which his only role was encourager, supporter or facilitator.

ATTITUDE

It’s all about attitude, attitude, attitude.  He loved being around folks with a good attitude.  He wanted it in his work environment, and he wanted it in his fun.  Being a Type A and working under self-induced pressure a great deal of the time could cause a mood to come over him that was hard to shake.  His remedy for this was what he called an “attitude adjustment”.  He didn’t want to be in a bad mood, and he hated being around anyone if he was, and he really hated being around anyone if they were.  So often he’d tell himself, “What you need is an attitude adjustment!”

TALKING TO HIMSELF

Chances are you’ve witnessed this more than once yourself, but what you never saw were his morning showers…each a meeting of its own.  Something about hearing it out loud helped with the solution.  More times than Sandi can count, she answered his shower jargon only to be told, “Do you mind; I’m having a meeting.”

SENSE OF HUMOR

It’s nothing if it isn’t fun!  Tom could handle anything if it was fun, and could find fun in most things in life.  He had a quick wit, developed at an early age when he was forced to make up for being so small, by being fun to be with or sharp-tongued if bullied.  When he became a Christian, he focused on developing the former and dropping the latter.  Nearly every day of their thirty-five and a half years of marriage, Tom made Sandi belly laugh.  You absolutely never knew what was going to come out of his mouth next and usually, neither did he.

YOUR WORD

Your word is one of your greatest assets.  If you say you’re going to do something, do it.  Be trustworthy.  Be someone folks can count on.  Be your word.  Tom was always a man of his word.  It was important to him, and it was important to him that you were a man or woman of yours.

PATIENCE

When Tom found out Sandi was praying for the fruit of the Spirit for him, he demanded, “Stop praying for patience!  What do you think you have to go through to get patience…trials!  I hate trials!”  But he loved the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.

CIVIC DUTY

Tom was big on civic duty.  Voting was both an honor and a duty.  Every voting day he and Sandi went to the polls together…and though they had done their research, nearly always stood booth to booth whispering about the choices.  It was important to them to vote together, and they always left with their arm around each other and a feeling of satisfaction.

He considered running for City Council and even Mayor, but decided a supporting role would be better both for him and the city, so he got behind candidates in which he had strong confidence and did everything he could to see they got elected.

CHARITY

Tom believed in a good cause, loved what Ed Shipman does for the kids at Happy Hill Farm; loved Pam Lott and Child Evangelism Fellowship, designed to bring grade school children to a full understanding of Christ through after school programs similar to Vacation Bible School; and he loved Debra Gikas and Eva Woods and all that’s done for the unborn and newborn babies at The Brazos Pregnancy Center.  He loved saving babies.

He ordered tapes to learn how to be an auctioneer, and for weeks you could hear him repeating, “Betty Bowder bought some butter, put the butter in her batter, but she said this batter’s bitter, if I had some better butter, I could put it in my batter, so she bought some better butter, put it in her bitter batter, then she said this batters better.”  Each time he said it faster and faster until he had the cadence of an auctioneer.  No one could sell like Tom or inspire to buy, when you hadn’t even thought about raising your hand.  Bill and Shirley Hooks, Ike and Trisha Thomas and Sister could testify….they often bought things they hadn’t even bid on.  Tom loved auctioneering for the charities.

MUSIC

Nobody said you had to be able to carry a tune to sing!  Harvey, the song leader at Northwest Bible’s adult Sunday school class, encouraged, “The Lord says to make a joyful noise.”  So Tom did.  Nothing made Sandi happier than to hear him singing boldly in church.  Once when he and Sandi were sitting on the front row next to the pianist and the soloist was coming to the chorus of one of Tom’s favorite hymns, Tom burst into song along with her, “…then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee…How great Thou art…”. Sandi pinched his leg and brought him to his senses.  He was lost in the music.

And more than once Carey Dyer had to ask their partner Russ to speak to Tom about singing on stage at Granbury Live.  He would have emcee lines coming up but get swept away by the music and sing along, causing Carey to lose the key.

Often when Tom would arrive home from a day of work, he’d burst in the front door singing one of “our songs”.  He sang to Sandi for thirty-five and a-half years.  No music was sweeter to her.  Tom had loved music all his life and was never without it in his car, the office, in his shop, at home or on his IPOD.  He really knew a lot about it never to have learned to read it.  When you feel it in your soul, it becomes part of you.  Again…he had a knack for knowing what was good.  Music brought him incredible joy, which is one of the reasons he was so crazy about Granbury Live.

DANCE

When the music moves you as it did Tom, you just gotta dance.  In west Texas it was the two-step, then the North Texas push which won his Sandi’s heart.  But music didn’t just move him on the dance floor, it moved him through life.  He danced in the closet when dressing; he danced through the kitchen on his way to start the day; he danced through Celebration Hall on his way to another emcee part; and he spontaneously danced across the stage to the music he loved.  Sandi’s favorite was when he dressed as Santa Clause and boogied off the stage in 50 consecutive Christmas concerts in the year 2003.  When Tom was happy…he often danced.

FOOD

You can’t think about Tom without thinking of his passion for certain foods and the diets on which he succeeded and failed.  No one ever loved tomatoes more than Tom.  He used to carry a salt shaker in his glove compartment so he could stop at a roadside stand, get a sack full and eat them going down the road like apples.  He could spot a good tomato from the car going 60 miles an hour…he slowed down for roadside stands… it was the color…he could always tell a good actually vine-ripened tomato from a distance by it’s color.

His Mama had been married to an Italian in New York for a while and came up with a great spaghetti sauce recipe, which Tom improved upon year by year, until he and Sandi had developed a recipe their friends dubbed, “World Famous”.  Tom could eat it seven days a week and be happy.

His good friend, Jim Gallemore, managed the Blue Note, a Dallas bar and grill with the best hot sauce around.  Tom talked him into giving him their recipe, which was written in gallons not cups…so every year for years Sandi and recruits (usually Sandi’s mom and dad and brother, Dale, and sometimes Sam and friend, Bonnie) would spend three days par-boiling tomatoes, chopping jalapeños, boiling salsa and canning 100 quart jars.  At the end of the year the supply was always gone, and it was time for another batch.

Tom had Sandi design bedside tables with a fridge in one and a microwave in the other.  He was never too far from two of his favorite staples…microwave popcorn and diet DP.

And when Tom was on a diet, everyone was on a diet.  He would encourage the world to jump on his latest diet wagon.  Every year before the Great Race and time to get back into his white pants, he’d live on turkey, baby dills and Granny Smith apples.  And miraculously by Race time, his britches fit.

Of course any diet was made better if you could just eat beef jerky all day.  Tom was a connoisseur ….nearly always having a pound of jerky nearby. That’s why he loved the Atkins diet…you could eat all the jerky you wanted.  It was by far his most successful….losing forty pounds.  Though without taking it on as a lifestyle change, the pounds always crept back up…some of his favorites, popcorn, chips and pasta, weren’t on the diet. 

There was many a diet challenge taken or given around the breakfast bar.  And speaking of breakfast bars, he lived on those for a while too.

NICKNAMES

Coming from Plains, Texas, where most folks had a nickname that stuck, like Bear Paw or Soda Pop or Biskits…it was a miracle Tom got out of west Texas with the simple name, Tom, but he always respected the value of a nickname, the story behind it and the person or thing to which it was given.

Just about every vehicle and home had a name bestowed by Tom.  Sandi’s Pantera was Rollerskate; One of his dirt bikes was BCNU (Be seeing you…get it!); his customized 1977 Chevy truck was RUREDI (Are you ready?...for the judgment day…He had that truck the year he asked Jesus into his heart.); their home on Northwest Highway was The Magic Kingdom; their lake lot was Flamingo Point; their home in Granbury, The UpTop Ranch, with the T in the form of a cross.

If Tom gave you a nickname or a handle, you knew you were loved.  If he didn’t, perhaps you were one of the ones revered above it, or it just hadn’t come to him yet.  To mention a few:  When his daughter was born he nicknamed her Sam after the sultry-voiced secretary whose face was never seen in the old black and white series, Richard Diamond, Private Investigator.  In her adult years he called her Sambo.  He gave Sister her name at her birth, cemented it when she joined the Great Race.  His first banker and his secretary became Lonesome Ed and Lone Star Annie; Curtis Graf was Dad;  Wayne Stanfield was Waynie; Bill Harmon was Harpoon; Mike Ewing was Mr. Mikey or Mikey Spielberg; His Granbury Live partner, Russ Hearn was given the handle, Creative Genius; Wendy Hearn, First Lady; Linda Morgan, The Queen of Blonde-Headed Soul; Dena Dyer, Amazing; Carey Dyer, Man of 1000 Voices; Cass Moore, The Number One Keyboard Man on the Planet; Abby Swearingen, America’s Next Superstar; Alecia Horning, Princess; Mike Echols, The  Blue-eyed Fiddle Player; Roger Ramsey, The Man on The Big Guitar; Steve Slayton, Big Energy; Margie Swearingen, Mama Marge; Burney Adair, Lightning Burney Adair; Kerry Brown, Downtown Kerry Brown; Jerry Swafford, Sonic Jerry Swafford; Chase Bowman was One Small Man; Cecil Wolf, Catfish; his pastor, John Duncan, was Preacher; his brother-in-law Dale, Just Call Dale…and he did, anytime day or night, when he needed directions on fixing the Tivo for instance, and Dale would take the call whether on the job in San Diego or at church on Wednesday night in Garland.  When Sandi asked Tom….what do I do if you croak…he answered, “Just call Dale.”  And of course the last nickname he gave was to his grandson.  It had to be grand enough to be governor of the state of Texas…his name would be “Texas”!

But never call him, Tex…It’s Texas...Tom said.

SURPRISES

Tom loved a surprise.  He and Sandi, Sam and their housekeeper, Rose, were always in the jump-out-and-scare-each-other mode…but waited till it was unexpected and the scared would ‘bout jump out of their skin.

He and his buddy, John Holden, surprised each other for birthdays for years till they finally drew a truce.  It started with the sheep dog puppy John gave Sandi for her birthday.  Upton had puppy trots and ruined the game room carpet.  Tom decided to get even and gave John 30 baby chicks for his birthday….left them in his bathroom with a feeder and a lamp.  When the guests returned from dinner and dancing, no one went into the bathroom till John discovered his present.  You can imagine the mess.  But the best surprise was to come later that night, when Tom’s daddy, Daddy Mac, called John back after all the guests had gone home and said,  “John, now fun’s fun, but leaving that snake in your bedroom, well now, that’s just not very funny, so I wanted to call you and warn you.”  Now John was deathly afraid of snakes, so it was no surprise when he blew a hole in his bedroom wall with a shotgun…shooting at snakes in the night.  The next year Tom opened presents at his birthday…a bag of peanuts from Charlie Waters, bananas from Dan Reeves….he didn’t get it…then John came in the door with his present…a squirrel monkey.  Tom tried to give her back or give her away, but Sandi had fallen in love with Bozo.  The next year was year of the truce.  Tom told John his present was out in the van…John cautiously approached the back of the van in the dimly lit yard surrounded by tall trees with long black shadows.  It was spooky as all the guest hovered around for the unveiling.  John opened the van door and out jumped a six foot four gorilla and knocked him to the ground.  It was Tom’s friend, Keith Milo, in costume.  That night they drew the truce.

Tom loved giving good presents, too.  He and Sandi’s daddy completely stripped, painted, reupholstered and re-headlinered a one-owner 1974 450-SL for Sandi’s fortieth birthday…and Tom gave her a surprise party at the Fireman’s Museum in Arlington and invited all their friends and family.

When Sam got her drivers license, he surprised her with a rare (less than 500 made) 1958 Cameo sleek side pick-up truck, he had rebuilt and painted.  She named it Amos.  Sam and Amos were the most popular girl and vehicle at Hockaday with all the boys at St. Marks, partly because she had the coolest wheels and dad.  And when she graduated from the University of Texas in Austin, he surprised her with her own vintage 1967 MB 250 SL German Edition Mercedes.

One day Sandi came home to find Tom hanging a wooden swing with rope in their huge back yard oak.  He’d made it and carved Tom loves Sandi on the seat.  The loves was a big red heart and a dime was imbedded to dot the i. 

Another time he surprised her with a huge 14” in diameter iron bell mounted on a tall wooden post outside the back door…again the special carvings.  Now she could ring the bell and motion for dinner or telephone when he was out working in his shop.

But about the best thing he ever surprised Sandi with was a trip to California for her and their house keeper and good friend, Rose Roston.  Now, Rose had never been in an airplane, never seen the ocean, or mountains and was even afraid to ride an elevator.  Tom fixed them up with Great Race sponsor free tickets from American Airlines, a free Buick, free tickets to Disneyland, free rooms at the Emerald Hotel and money for Rose’s travel wardrobe.  It was six days of seeing the world for the first time through Rose’s eyes…an unbelievable gift…an incredible surprise.

Tom was the king of the “find it on the web”. When he wanted to surprise his Granbury Live partner, Russ Hearn, he found it on the web.  It wasn’t unusual for Tom to give Russ the keys to drive them to eat in Tom’s Harley truck, but this time, over dinner, Tom presented him the keys and a personalized Harley chrome keepsake certificate of ownership with the name Russ Hearn.  “That wasn’t your truck I drove over here was it?” said Russ. Tom had found a duplicate to his own fire-breather on the internet, and Sister had gone up north to deliver it home to its new owner…Mr. Russ Hearn.

Tom loved surprises.

ADVENTURE

If Tom had a middle name, it was “Adventure”.  He was born to it.  Because of his zeal to experience life, his seemingly boundless energy and his spontaneous creativity, his 65 years, 6 months and 6 days on earth were a virtual road map to the most amazing, unequaled adventures one could never imagine.  If you were one of the blessed, you caught some of his spirit, stretched your limits and experienced a moment or more of his vision to capture adventure and spend it.  Tom and Sandi often said, “If we die tomorrow, we will have experienced more than most people do in a lifetime.”

From an impromptu rickshaw race in Macau, where Tom jumped out and pushed his contender across the finish line for the win, to clearing the dance floor with the North Texas Push in Hong Kong, to tripping with an arm load of packages down the boardwalk steps when he happened onto a topless beach in the south of France, to navigating the Mississippi River in flood stages in a houseboat, to flying Sandi home from California in an ultra-light airplane, to stunt flying in an F-18 with the Blue Angels, his adventures were as varied as his encyclopedia on fun. 

His world knew few boundaries; his life was the edge.  He lived on it almost 24/7.  His motor was either full throttle or off.  He loved racing down a snowy ski slope in Colorado with Sandi and Bubba and Anne Miller or Jim and Shirley Crofford or any of his good skiing buddies or reading a good book on the beach with Sandi in Mexico.  He could race across the uncharted dessert with its diverse terrain of hills and crevices, mud and wild flowers from Palm Springs, California, to Wickenburg, Arizona, with Sandi and Sam and Wayne Stanfield on dirt bikes, Terri Stanfield, Gramma and Grampa Stanfield and friends in dune buggies, spend the night and return a different route, creating their own map, or he could be content on the back deck high in the Anaheim Hills with Newt and Ginni Withers, a good conversation and the Disney fireworks lighting the sky in the distance.  He could be ready to go at a moments notice with only a toothbrush in his pocket or be resigned to be content to haul all of Sandi’s luggage on the many adventures of their life. And he loved ‘bout anything with a motor and found adventure in it…all his life.

FRIENDS

About as much as he loved adventure, he loved his friends.  Sharing his adventures with friends was the ultimate.  Some folks can count on one hand how many really good friends they’ve had in a lifetime, not Tom.  With his nine and a-half fingers, he’d still have to use them over and over.  And his friends were as varied as they were many.  He loved them for different reasons.  His love was always real, and if a single one of them needed him, he wanted to be there for them.  Of course they wanted to be there for him, too, and often were, when he’d call them in for some all-nighters to build a yogurt store or a theater, or pack up a house for the move to Granbury. He was almost the Tom Sawyer of getting it done with a crew!  If Tom was doing it, it had to be fun, no matter how hard the work.  His brother-in-law, Dale, made the mistake one Christmas of giving Tom a gift certificate to be redeemed for one day of work…only problem was, Dale never got his hands on it to tear it up.  That certificate was redeemed over and over through the years.  Dale never complained.  Projects with Tom were fun.  It was called friendship. For friendship stories go to www.uptopranch.com  or send a story to be posted to sandi@onehitwonder.biz .

FAMILY

From the moment Tom met Sandi, he learned what a real family was.  He thought at first they had to be putting on just for him.  Nobody hugged or laughed that much that were family.  He gained a deep respect and admiration for Sandi’s daddy, AJ, and was crazy about her mama, Letrice, inviting them to move into the cottage out back when AJ retired in 1982 and ended up taking her brothers, Dale and Mark, along with Sandi and Sam on snow skiing holidays, dirt bike weekends and an Arkansas camp out.  The love expanded way beyond the boundaries of 1118 Raney Street, Longview, Texas, where Sandi grew up.  Over the years, he laughed and hugged and brought joy to cousins, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews and they to him…and he thought her Daddy Marshall was one of the finest men God ever created.

A favorite family bonding memory was when Dale, Shery, Lauren and Kelsey moved in for three months while their home was being built.  Tom was waiting to hear from a potential national sponsor for the Race, so had time on his hands; Dale was on vacation; and the Mario brothers were the hottest video game in town.  Dale and Tom became masters.  Tom admired Shery for her home schooling, early morning exercise regimen and sweet spirit and the girls for being so darn fun.  He bought them two kitties, Awesome and Bogie, and a rubber horse named “Screamer” to hang from highest limb in one of the big back yard pecan trees.

Tom had come from a family that only took upwards of an hour before everyone had snapped back at least twice.  They were big on getting over it and getting beyond it, but the getting over and beyond was always preceded by words of some kind or another.  It was love, stressful love, when he was with his mama, siblings or daddy.  But once Tom and Sister accepted Christ things began to change.  And when they got to go across the country on the Great Race together, they were bonded forever.  Tom and Sister had literally laughed their way across the country.  In latter years, Tom looked forward to every moment spent with all his family and was particularly proud of his niece, Penci. 

But the family he yearned for most was the last one he had…his daughter, Sam, was grown up now.  He was so proud of her, but never prouder than when she called December 12, 2004, to say he was going to be a grandfather.  She was adopting.  Into his life came the most amazing sixteen month old, thirty pound, smiling, heart-tugger, nut-and-bolt-turner and anything-with-a-motor lover…he wasn’t sure but what it wasn’t his own blood and genes in this compact embodiment of full blown joy. They bonded immediately.  Tate became Texas; Tom became Bebop, and Sandi, Mia. It was grandparent heaven.  Tom wanted to spend every free moment with his little buddy and his newly expanded family.  Sam would be marrying Jessy, with whom Tom had played many a racquet ball game, and the Garzas and McRaes would be sharing life and building memories.  Who knew each moment and memory would take on such grand proportions when six months of treasures would have to last a lifetime.  Texas still talks about his Bebop and says goodnight to him every night.

LOVE

Tom loved life, he loved his friends and family and he loved the Lord.  He only struggled with two scriptures in God’s Word:  James 1:2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, though if you read on, Tom readily agreed, it’s an awesome passage.  He just hated to go through those trials to have his faith tested resulting in endurance and to be lacking in nothing.  The other was one of the greatest commandments:  Matthew 22:37-39 And He said to Him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Now Tom absolutely loved the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind, no problem there.  It was the loving your neighbor part…some neighbors were just down right hard to love.  He would have to constantly remind himself to love the unlovable.

AFFECTION

When Tom and Sandi fell in love, their affection for one another was real and constant, but after three months of marriage Tom sat her up on the kitchen counter and explained to her life may not always be that way…in the beginning couples show their love in affectionate ways, but as time goes by, though they love each other as much or more, affection may not be part of the way it’s shown or certainly not as often.  All the while, Sandi was nodding and grinning and being cute, and Tom just scooped her up and said, “Oh, what am I talking about, that’ll never be us,” and it wasn’t.

One of Tom’s attributes Sandi fell in love with, was his easy affection for others, especially his buddies.  He hugged his male friends easily and often.  And they loved him for it.  Tom and everyone else always thought if you wanted to learn the art of the hug just get one from Sandi’s brother, Mark, one of the best huggers around. Tom had an appreciation for a good hug.  There wasn’t much that couldn’t be cured with laughter and a hug, forgiving heart and prayer.

ROMANCE

Tom was a romantic.  Though he was a larger than life figure, whose personality could fill the room, there was a quiet, thoughtful, tender heart that beat within his size 42 chest.  Sandi treasured every note and sentiment.

An excerpt from her December 6, 1998 Anniversary note read:

I was here alone, and God found me worthy of you…Amazing!...grace.  I love His gift to me with all my heart.  Would I be alone in the Garden of Eden without a mate, God would create Sandi to complete me.

And in her Ryrie Study Bible, written May 16, 1980:

To my wife,

Dearest Sandi, I must remember to thank God for you every day.  Being with you has brought me to Him and you daily remind me of His presence thru your kindness, grace and beauty, and most of all, your unlimited love for all His creation.  Truly you walk in our Lord’s path.  Thank God for my Sandi.

                              I’ll love you forever,   Your Husband Tom

PS:   Thank God for Daddy Marshall, Letrice & all of your family.

KNOWLEDGE

In a Bible Study on Wisdom, Tom once quoted California political assembly candidate, Sandra Carey:  "Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life."

Tom believed in learning.  He was born with a natural absorption rate on about any topic; that coupled with the drive to be his best, filled his knowledge tool belt with a wide variety of skills. As his good friend, Carey Dyer once said, “You never knew what Tom was going to be an expert on next.”  He gained knowledge easily and shared it freely.

Tom was a whiz at math…given any numbers, he could add, subtract, multiply or divide faster in his head than you could on a calculator. He read and comprehended twice as fast as most.  And though Tom was one finger short, because he had stuck his left index finger in his granddaddy’s cotton gin gears at the age of four, he was still the fastest, most accurate typist in Plains High School.  And with a self-professed lack of memory skills, when needed, he could amazingly recall almost anything he had learned or read, though he may not have thought about it in months or years.  Tom purposely developed a skill for name and data recall and by a day or so into a fourteen day, 100 team Great Race, could announce the name of each driver and navigator, where they were from, what kind of car they were driving, a Race anecdote and a little history on them and their vintage machine as they drove through the gate of forty-four promoted cities across the country annually. 

Though Sandi rarely saw him pouring over a newspaper or being addicted to TV news, he always knew what sports teams were winning, what the political candidates were representing and what world crisis needed attention and prayer.  He tried never to mistake knowledge for wisdom, though, and asked for the latter daily in prayer.

PRAYER

Tom believed in the power of prayer and the One who answers it.  Once he became a Christian, he and Sandi began every morning with prayer.  When they lived in Dallas, Sandi sat in his lap on their dressing stool, and with his arms around her, Tom prayed for their day, their families and friends and their world.  When they moved to Granbury, the dressing stool in storage, they began kneeling beside the bed for morning prayer, just before Tom put his shoes and socks on.  And if they’d missed starting their day together, they’d embrace for prayer at the coffee pot or wherever their paths first crossed that day.

And Tom also believed in calling in the prayer warriors.  He would give the big prayer concerns to Sandi to pass on to two of her best friends, Darlene McNatt and Susan Sorensen.  Now if anyone had a heart for the Lord and an open line, it was these girls.  Tom adored them and counted on them often.