Thomas D. “Tom” Emerson, 47, son of Richard and Sally Emerson of La Cañada, died March 7, in La Crescenta. He was born Dec. 11, 1963 and raised in the Crescenta-Cañada area.

He graduated from La Cañada High School, class of 1982. He started his first career, computer programmer, in elementary school when he brought home the school “Pet” (Commodore Pet) for the holidays. After graduation from PCC, he entered the world of real programming and worked for several companies in programming business applications, the most recent was with Warner Bros.

Recently he embarked on a new interest, tourism. Following some successful tours of Ireland he became serious and studied tour management at the International Tour Management Institute. He enjoyed his first professional stints as a tour director and was planning tours in California, Ireland and France. As a serious hobby Tom built and flew model rockets. His membership in the Rocketry Organization of California goes back many years. Recently he branched into the “Large and Dangerous” variety, with several taller than him. He enjoyed music and singing, was an avid SciFi fan of both movies and books, enjoyed bowling, curling and traveling extensively. He sang with the Town Singers and produced several of the videos of their performances. He was a founding member of the San Gabriel Valley Linux Users Group where he performed varied duties. He volunteered his technical computer skills at the Southern California Genealogical Society.

He was a kind and caring person to so many, many people.  Finally, as many have remarked, his sense of humor was widely appreciated.

He is survived by his parents; his sister Carol Eriksen and husband Karl; two nephews and one niece: Sean, Matthew and Stephanie Eriksen; extended family Christoph, Barbara, Jonas and Silke Radbruch who live in Germany, and many aunts, uncles and cousins; his special friend Rosanna Vignola and his beloved dog Carmel.

A celebration of Tom’s life will be held Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at the La Cañada Congregational Church aka Church of the Lighted Window in La Cañada, at 1200 Foothill Blvd.

No flowers please. Contributions may be made to the charity of your choice, to the Southern California Genealogical Society, 417 Irving Dr., Burbank, CA 91504, or the La Cañada Congregational Church.

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