Tom Sundling, 64, passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on Aug. 8, 2023.
Tom was born Thomas David Sundling on May 22, 1959 in Albion, Mich. to Lester and Mary Sundling.
He is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and their five children: three sons, Alex and his wife Bree with their children Mia and Olivia, Ben and his wife Amanda, and John Tyler (JT); and two daughters, Katie and her husband Kyle Griffith with their children Ford and Georgia, and Annie and her husband Arnau Dachs Vaque. Tom’s sister Peg Sundling-Oakley and her husband Mike and his two brothers, Doug and Kurt and his wife Leigh, also survive. Tom was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Martha, and his brother David.
Tom grew up in Bluffton. He played and excelled on the Bluffton High School baseball, basketball and tennis teams, while playing trombone in the school band, before graduating in 1977. While lifeguarding at the local Ouabache State Park pool in the summer of 1978, he met his future wife, Jennifer Dale, daughter of David and Carol Dale, who survive. Tom and Jennifer married on June 6, 1981, in Bluffton.
By 1983, Tom had graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry and master’s degrees in both computer science and exercise physiology. After graduation, the couple moved to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., where Tom worked for various corporations and was at one time on loan to NASA, where he worked on cutting-edge projects such as the Hubble Telescope. Tom equally enjoyed the many fun events that he participated in that were associated with Jennifer’s job on Capitol Hill working for U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar.
Their first four children, Alex, Katie, Ben and JT, were born while the family lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In the summer of 1992, after living nearly a decade in Montgomery County, Tom was working for GTE Government Systems when he accepted a transfer to the United Kingdom. Tom and Jennifer packed up their young family and moved to the picturesque village of Painswick, Gloucestershire in the Cotswold region west of London. While in Painswick, Tom and Jennifer’s fifth child, Annie, was born.
In 1996, Tom’s work relocated the Sundling family to Ventura County in Southern Calif. For the last decade, they have lived in the hills of Santa Rosa Valley with space for all of their children and grandchildren to gather.
As eulogized by his children: our dad was an intelligent, selfless, kind, hilarious, fun and overall beautiful human being who shall endure in our hearts forever. Though stunned and saddened, Tom’s family and friends realize that while his flame of life no longer burns, it flickers still, in the life, the grace, and the love he sparked in each of us.
Funeral arrangements were handled by Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks in nearby Westlake Village, Calif. A funeral service for family and close friends was led by the Reverend Barbara Laughray on Friday, Aug. 25; cremation followed. An outdoor Celebration of Life was held, on a gloriously beautiful day, Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Sundling home. Family and friends traveled from near and far to share in this bittersweet day of love and memories.
Memorials may be made to the Tom Sundling Student Leadership Program (SLP) Scholarship Fund at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. The goal of the SLP is for high school students to create and execute a leadership action plan that will make a positive impact in their community. Tom found great joy and purpose in serving as a mentor to these young minds and looked forward to many more years of participation.