Tom was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska USA. He graduated from Omaha South High School in 1982. He attended the University of Nebraska before joining the US Army in 1984. He spent two years on active duty in the USA and in Germany. While in Germany, he traveled to Trier, Hamburg, Munich, Paris, Rome, Naples, Pisa, Crete, and Copenhagen. On the way to London, his car broke down so there are still some unfinished travel plans in his future along with some new travel plans. Tom left active duty and took the education benefits afforded him in the military back to Omaha where he graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 1990 with a BSBA degree in business finance. He continued his education and graduated in 1992 with an MBA from the University of Nebraska. He was lucky enough to land a job one month out of college during the last economic recession. Seeing that as a sign, Tom started working for Dougherty & Company LLC in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as an Investment Banker for tax-exempt financings for public entities in South Dakota and the region. Since joining Dougherty in July 1992, he has structured financings for many colleges, school districts, municipalities, and counties in the state. Most people still wonder what he does so he rattles off a few of the projects he has worked on like the Sioux Falls Convention Center or Rushmore Plaza. When they acknowledge those projects, he just tells them that his firm provided the money for those entities to build them. He also has his Series 7 and Series 63 brokerage license.
Tom was elected to the City of Tea’s city council in 2000, and as such served on the Revenue and Taxation Policy committee of the South Dakota Municipal league. He is a member of the South Dakota Army National Guard and served an eleven-month activation in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003 which luckily did not include time in Iraq or Afghanistan. He just completed his 25th year in the military. He is a member of the Sioux Falls American Legion Post 15.
He married his fantastic wife, Shannon in 1995. They have three great kids, Krisha, 20; Joey 13; and Mikey, 11. You may see them at your meetings. Joey still takes full credit for Tom’s successful election to club president after a rousing and quite comical nominating speech when he was 8 years old and Mikey is quite an outgoing child willing to banter with the best of them at any Lion’s meetings.
Tom became a Lion in 1995 and is a proud member of the Sioux Falls Downtown Lions Club, the oldest and largest club in 5SE and MD5. He received the President’s Excellence Award and is a Melvin Jones recipient. He has served in many leadership positions on various committees which included the Lions Club International Foundation and Leader Dog committees. During his time on the LCIF Committee, they awarded 20 Melvin Jones. The club also became a model club for SightFirst II. As the chair of the Leader Dog committee, they brought in more than 20 puppies from Rochester, Michigan for their socialization time. At the District level, he has been on the MERLOW Team for 3 years and was previously a Zone Chairman before running for Vice District Governor. He credits PID Al Schock for inspiring him to run for District Governor and for PDG Ray Schley’s enthusiasm and professional guidance in getting him to this point.