Tom Heutmaker
Thomas Norman Heutmaker passed away on October 21, 2021 at Providence hospital in Everett, with his long-time companion, Cindy Harris, and his parents close by.
Tom was born October 14, 1961 in Seattle and grew up on Scenic Hill in Kent. He was an honors graduate from Kent-Meridian High School in 1980 and was a state wrestling champion that year after finishing 4th in the state in his junior year. Tom went on to attend the University of Washington and Washington State, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and to graduate from the UW’s Foster School of Business in 1985 with a BA in Business.
After college, Tom was admitted to the prestigious Naval Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, from which he graduated in October of 1985 and became a naval aviator. Tom served in the Navy until 1992 mostly flying helicopters in various places around the U.S. and the world, including California, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Spain, Israel, Germany, and Italy, to name a few. He ended his Navy career at the rank of Lieutenant with his last position being an instructor for aspiring aviators. After being honorably discharged, Tom came home to the Seattle area and began a career in sales, primarily in the auto industry, but also branching out into the mortgage industry, real estate, building materials, and internet and cable tv sales. In fact, Tom was an early innovator in online car sales at Bowen Scarff Ford receiving recognition from Ford Motor Company as one of the top online sales reps on the West Coast.
Tom was preceded in death by his sister, Amy, his nephew, Cramer Thomas Helton, and an infant brother John. He is survived by his companion, Cindy, his parents, Norman “Whiz” and Sheila Heutmaker, his sisters, Heidi (and Alan) DeCarteret, Melissa Heutmaker, and Carrie (and Ron) Nelson, numerous nieces and nephews, and a huge extended family on both the Heutmaker and Sullivan (Sheila’s family) sides. Tom also had an extended group of friends from Scenic Hill with whom he kept in touch for his whole life.
From an early age Tom was a budding entrepreneur, delivering newspapers, selling Christmas trees, doing yard-work and selling Fuller Brushes door to door to earn spending money. His adventurous spirit meant that he was always the first among his peers to try things and seldom showed any fear of failure. In addition to his success in wrestling, Tom played football and soccer as a youth and had a great passion for skiing and playing the guitar that extended in to his later years.
A Catholic funeral mass will be celebrated in Tom’s honor at 11:00 am on December 29, 2021 at St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church, 13055 SE 192nd St, Renton, WA 98058. There will also be a reception following the service at The Gravity Ballroom, 10011 SE 187th St, Renton, WA 98055. The facility requires that attendees have a Covid vaccination or a negative Covid test within 72 hours of the event.
Update
A funeral mass and reception will be scheduled for a later time when the weather allows people to travel and the Covid restrictions are eased.
The post first appeared on Barton Family Funeral Service.