Thomas Clinton Floyd was born in Hampton, Virginia on March 29, 1952. He was the fourth of six brothers and one sister raised by five strong Christian women in Boston, Massachusetts. The first of his family to go to and graduate from college, Thomas played the position of running back for the Boston University Terriers and received his Bachelor Degree in Health Science. After trying out for several NFL teams, including the Washington Redskins, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers, his hopes of pursing a football career were cut short as a result of a hamstring injury. Thomas instead decided to teach physical education to middle school students for ten years in inner city Boston during the height of the affirmative action era. After that experience, he claimed he developed an allergy to middle schoolers.
Thomas would say that he “pursued the American dream” and bought the house, the boat, and the car (he had a thing for fast cars, and the Corvette was his jam back in the day). One year he was sitting at home in Boston watching the New Year’s Day Rose Parade, which was filmed in sunny Pasadena, California. With eight feet of snow piled outside his window, he envisioned himself wearing shorts and a t-shirt as one of the parade onlookers. That moment prompted his move to the west coast the following year and he never looked back. Thomas lived in Los Angeles, CA and was a personal trainer to the stars while competing as a bodybuilder on and off for eight years. If you were ever out on the Venice Beach boardwalk back in the 80’s, chances are you saw him out there taking pictures with the tourists in his turquoise posing trunks.
After residing in San Diego, Atlanta, and Oklahoma City, Thomas moved to the Pacific Northwest in the mid 90’s. With one last desire to explore geographical moves, he landed in San Francisco, CA for about four years, where he tried his hand at selling Persian rugs, dabbled in physical therapy, and worked with adolescents with special needs. Thomas made his way back to Seattle in May 2004 and has called it his home ever since. It was October 2004 when Thomas was working as a personal trainer at Gold’s Gym on Capitol Hill where he met his beloved Maggie and the two were pretty much inseparable ever since.
From the moment he got a set of dumbbells from his uncle on his sixteenth birthday, working out quickly become an outlet for Thomas, and you could easily find him in the gym five times a week. Walking the warehouse at Costco was considered a field trip, and became his ‘Cheers’ where everybody knew his name. He was known for his smile, his strength, his voice, his kindness, his wisdom, and his relentless pursuit of helping others. Thomas was a huge fan of the ocean and recently had the opportunity to have some relaxing getaways at Ocean Shores, WA, Seaside, OR, and Port Townsend, WA. He also loved going to the movies and would often bring a buddy and some snacks and sometimes even sneak into a second movie just for fun. By now he has certainly made amends with the theater gods and begged for forgiveness. Those extra hours of free entertainment were worth every second.
In June 2015, Thomas began having stomach pain and was diagnosed with stage two pancreatic cancer in August 2016. After four rounds of unsuccessful chemotherapy and a determination that he was not a candidate for surgery, hospice was engaged in January 2017. Thomas lost his brave ten-month battle at the Evergreen Health Hospice Care Center in Kirkland, WA and took his last breath here on earth the morning of May 17, 2017. Thomas’ love for his creator stayed evident to the very end and he would be the first to tell anyone that his relationship with Jesus Christ was stronger than ever. Big T was loved by so many and will be greatly missed but his legacy will live on in any of us who had the pleasure of crossing paths with this gentle giant.