On Friday, September 26, 2014, Tom B. Werner (aka Weiner, Tommy Bruce, and Tomas) lost his battle with cancer. Diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) in June 2013, chemotherapy achieved remission by January 2014. With support of family, friends, and the LiveStrong program, enough strength and stamina was developed for some spring and summer biking and hiking. Always enjoying adventures, Tom managed to squeeze in 3 trips this year – a Riviera Maya all-inclusive with his wife, sons, and daughter-in-law in May, a couple weeks in South Dakota and at Custer's Last Stand with a good friend and friend's son in June, and lastly, a 10-day trip with wife Liz immediately following her last day of work in August.

Shortly after that last trip, it was determined the MCL was back – along with Central Nervous System Lymphoma. Two and a half weeks after resuming chemotherapy, a fever required hospitalization. As a result, Weiner spent his 65th birthday in the hospital but, in his usual style, did so with family, smiles, and plenty of stories while watching the Badgers trounce Bowling Green. Some of the hospital time was also spent planning more trips. We had no idea in six short days he'd no longer be with us. His last couple days he was unable to speak but his family steadfastly stayed with him sharing memories of the many adventures we had shared, thanking him for the wonder he added to all our lives as well as playing some of his favorite tunes.

Tom was born September 20th 1949 in Milwaukee and attended 1st grade at Auer Avenue School. At the age of 7, his family moved to West Bend where he was living at the time of death. He attended Fair Park, Barton, and McLane schools, then West Bend High School (Class of '68). He furthered his education at UW-Oshkosh (Fond du Lac campus), UW-Washington County, and UW-Milwaukee obtaining an Associate's Degree in Art.

At the age of 21, he travelled solo to Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India and often told the story of how, during this particular adventure, he had everything stolen but the pants he was wearing, along with spending time with the Hare Krishna founder His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and of learning to play a sitar.

His first long term job involved welding and cutting steel for train engine repair at the Milwaukee Road. This was follwed by jobs at several manufacturing firms including Tower Automotive, Helgesen, Garden Way, Simplicity, Bolens, and Briggs & Stratton. When Briggs closed the Port Washington plant, Tom declared he wanted to do a "stint for humanity" which resulted in becoming a medical transport van driver for Lifestar.

Tom Werner was a generous man, an engaging conversationalist, a true people person, and a lover of nature and the outdoors – hiking, camping, bird watching, canoeing, fishing, hunting. He was also extremely proud of the prairie he and Liz established around their home. He was involved in athletics from 5th through 9th grade during which time he was leading scorer on the 6th grade basketball team and set a track record at McLane. It was with pride and pleasure that he watched his sons' swim meets, soccer, basketball, and football games. He was also a great cook who had a knack for adding just the right seasoning to any dish.

He will be dearly missed by his parents - Thomas H. Werner and Lavern(Miller)Werner; siblings - Gary(Danielle) Werner and Verna(Paul) Reindl; wife and soul-mate - Liz Spaeth-Werner; children - Zach(Helen), Ben, and Nick, grandson - William Thomas, mother-in-law - Ruth Spaeth, brothers-in-law -Mark(Tricia) Spaeth and Steve (Gretchen) Spaeth, sisters-in-law - Laura (Mike) Hoffman, Corinne (Keith) Sommer, and Carla (John) Mueller as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends. You can honor Tom by being kind and open-minded to others, by sharing Tom stories, and by practicing and passing on to future generations a respect for nature and love of the outdoors.

Per Tom's wishes, he has been cremated; his ashes will be scattered at some of his favorite places. Family and friends are invited to a Celebration of Life on Saturday, October 25 from 4:00 – 8:30 PM at Holy Angels School, 230 N. 8th Avenue, West Bend. Food and beverages will be provided.

Thank you to everyone at the Kraemer Cancer Center, Saint Joseph's Hospital, West Bend Clinic, Froedtert Hospital, and Kathy Hospice for their unwavering support and efforts to provide us with as much time as possible with Tom.

Condolences can be sent to Phillip Funeral Home which is assisting the family.
Donations can be sent to the family or provided at the celebration and will be forwarded to a yet-to-be-determined nature related cause.

With the passing of Tom Werner, we've all lost a generous, always smiling, likable, unbiased man who thoroughly enjoyed all that life had to offer.

As Tom liked to say – Adios