Tom was born in 1946 in Merced, California and grew up with his parents, and three brothers. His father was a farmer who mainly grew sweet potatoes. Tom was drafted into the Army as a young man and served for almost 11 months as an airplane mechanic in Viet Nam. After he served his stint, he returned home, where he met his future wife, Jennifer Emmert.
He married his beautiful bride, Jenny, on Feb 15, 1970. They have two children (Noah and Sarah), and four grandchildren (Daniel, Heidi, Benjamin and Vera).
Tom was born again on October 7, 1980 (six weeks after his wife was saved), and they have been walking with the Lord ever since. The Lord has made a monumental difference in their lives; they truly repented and changed direction from the way they were going.
After college, Tom worked as a Vineyard Manager for 27 years in Sonoma County. In 2001, he went on staff at Calvary Chapel Petaluma from January 2001 until January 31, 2019. Over the years, he served as an Assistant Pastor there. The highlight for him was directing the Missions Program. He—and sometimes Jenny—did many mission trips to various countries: Sudan, Kenya, Afghanistan, Dominican Republic, China, Brazil, and Mexico. They took teams to Kenya and Mexico often. This was truly a blessed time!
Tom and his wife moved to Turlock in February 2019, to care for his wife’s mother, who has since graduated to glory.
“We began attending Calvary Chapel Turlock in February 2019 and are very blessed to be part of the church body here!”