Thomas Brinkley Hayman

Thomas Brinkley Hayman, 82, peacefully passed away surrounded by his family on Thursday, August 6. Tom was born on September 19, 1937 in Brooklyn, NY to Alma Madeline Cherry. He was placed for adoption and was adopted in 1939 by Leroy and Dorothy Hayman of New York. He surprised his parents when he showed them that even at that early age, he could correctly identify the make and model of every car he saw on the road. He spent the rest of his life with an impressive knowledge of cars and trucks. Tom spent the early part of his life in Darien, CT where he took piano lessons for several years. Since his father worked in New York City, Tom would hop on a train and go to Grand Central Station, then walk to Radio City Music Hall where he would spend hours watching the shows there. His favorite part was watching the organist play the incredible Radio City pipe organ. Tom spent the summers working on a farm belonging to his maternal aunt and uncle, Frances and Oliver Wolfe. He cherished these summers as he learned to drive the tractor, farm truck and operate farm equipment. In 1952, the Hayman family packed up their belongings, including their dog Kim, and moved to California. After initially moving to the San Fernando Valley, the Haymans finally settled in Santa Barbara where Tom graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1956. As they drove across the country, Tom would stop in music stores as they traveled and focused on learning to play the organ. He was a good organist and played at weddings and other family and church events over the years. Tom, a long-time member of the First Presbyterian Church, helped to set up the pipe organ when the current church was built in 1973. He served many roles in the church as an elder, a member of the choir for 50 years and even a mechanic of the church vans. But his favorite thing was becoming acquainted with the church organists and proudly and playfully reminding them that he was the first person to play the organ. Tom meticulously designed a large pipe organ to his exacting specifications, with everything diagrammed and specified on paper just in case someone wanted to build one. Tom was a great singer and could sing any part from bass to tenor. He was proud that he and his wife were two of the few people that sang at the annual Messiah Sing-Along at the First Presbyterian Church from the very first performance in 1980. He faithfully enjoyed it for 39 consecutive years. Tom went into the Army in 1956. He trained at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds as a truck driver and was stationed in Germany for three years as a tank transporter. This allowed him to see much of Germany, Paris, and the Alps. He attained the rank of Sergeant before he was discharged and he proudly served in the California National Guard for several years afterwards. Their annual trips to Summer Camp led to stories about his many escapades as the tow truck driver that he gladly told for decades. It was during this time, in 1960, that he met Mary Robledo and the two were married in 1963. Tom worked in construction as a truck driver for several years before joining the County of Santa Barbara, where he stayed for 32 years. He was foreman of the County garage Downtown and became the driver of the County’s fuel truck in 1989. He was able to do what he did best Ð create new processes and routes for fuel delivery all over the county. He approached everything with a “no problem” attitude and worked methodically to find out how to do things best. There never seemed to be any job or problem that was insurmountable. His favorite job was working with the County Fire Department, religiously keeping the trucks around the county fueled and ready to go. He worked many large fires over the years, including the Painted Cave Fire where he fueled the many trucks that were sent in to battle the blaze. His actions saved many homes and buildings from burning. Tom was a car and truck enthusiast his entire life and could tell anyone the detailed specifications of many vehicles (especially from the 1940s —1960s). He had many car and truck books and magazines that he kept and continued to read until the end of his life. He was always personally invested in all his vehicles and treated them like they were family members. He loved Mack trucks, which is what he drove in the Army. His favorite personal cars were his 1939 GMC truck (The Heap), his 1958 Chevy Impala, his 1962 and 1971 VW Bugs and his 1965 Pontiac GTO. He taught many people how to drive over the years (especially large trucks and trailers) and knew how to tie truckers’ knots so tight that you never had to worry about a load coming loose. Tom was an excellent swimmer and diver and could float in the water like a human raft. He enjoyed going into the water and immediately would float on his back where he could spend hours drifting around. He introduced his children to nighttime swims in the ocean in Hawaii. He was also an avid reader and news watcher and was known to read hundreds of pages in an evening if he was enjoying a particular book. He was a chocoholic until the end and loved slapstick humor, cartoons (Looney Tunes) and playing practical jokes on friends and co-workers. Tom was a long-time Dodger fan. Even though he moved to Southern California before the Dodgers, he had always liked to watch them. His favorite player was Roy Campanella, the Dodgers Hall of Fame catcher, and he had a soft spot for all the Dodger catchers over the years. He always listened to the games on the radio or TV and was mad when the Dodgers recent TV deal made them unavailable to him, although he enjoyed watching his grandsons play Little League and Pony baseball. Just prior to his 80th birthday, with the help of DNA testing, Tom found out who his birth mother was. He was able to contact several of his family members and get to know them. He tediously put together binders full of the information he learned about his family. He was excited to talk to his aunt and cousins over the phone and learn about the family he had never known about. Tom fought many health battles over the past 16 years, confounding his doctors with his strength and resilience. Among his many ailments, he had a heart issue, cancer (twice), stroke, aneurism, COPD and most recently a fall that broke his pelvis and clavicle. Many times, his doctors thought he was not going to make it but he surprised everyone each time. Tom was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his loving wife of 57 years and faithful and devoted caregiver Mary, his three children Lynda (son-in-law Eric Koopmans), Susan (son-in-law Craig Bonner), Mark (daughter-in-law Shalene) and grandchildren Justin, Hunter, Ashton, Tyler, Megan, Kaylin and Nathan. Tom was a great man — honest, caring, dependable, humble and persevering and his presence will be missed by all those fortunate enough to have known him. The family would like to give a special thank you to his many doctors – Doctors Ashlock, Gupta, DaSilva, and Karen Hanna Arndt for all of their help along the way. We would also like to thank Marbella, Jennifer, Marcela, and Shauna from the VNA for all their support and assistance. Due to the pandemic, a family graveside service with military honors was held for Tom at Goleta Cemetery on August 21.

Thomas Brinkley Hayman

September 19, 1937 - August 6, 2020