Thomas Earle
Class of 1923
Thomas Earle graduated from Tomah High School in 1928. He was a star athlete and served as president of his class. After completing undergraduate work at Long Beach, California Junior College, Tom earned a graduate degree and his C.P.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1941, Tom joined the Walker Mufflers company in Racine as Director of Budgets. He spent most of his life in Racine. He retired in 1968 to Milwaukee, a year after the death of his first wife. At his retirement, Tom was serving as Vice President and Treasurer for Walker Mufflers. Tom married his high school sweetheart, Ruby Day, in July of 1976. He maintained an office in Madison where he continued to stay busy with business ventures and involvement in the stock market. In 1984, Tom gifted shares of stock in Briggs and Stratton to the Tomah Area School District and a local organization that provides support to individuals with disabilities because he himself had dealt with a speech impairment. In 1986, Thomas Earle passed away. With no known heirs, Tom arranged with an out-of-state firm to establish the Thomas B. Earle Charitable Foundation Trust which was to benefit people living in the Tomah community and its immediate surrounding area by improving the quality of the lifestyle of the handicapped and needy, both young and old. Since it began in 1986, the Thomas B. Earle Charitable Foundation Trust has contributed over $1.5 million to our community.