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07/11/2024 11:18 AME. Thomas “Tom” Foster Jr., 76, of Clinton and formerly Longmeadow, Massachusetts, passed away in the arms of his family on June 27, 2024, at Yale New Haven Hospital after a valiant 18-month fight against a vast medical complexity. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1948, he was the son of the late Edwin Thomas Foster Sr. and Mary (Sullivan) Foster; and son-in-law of the late Arthur and Pauline Jodoin.
Tom was raised in Springfield and graduated from Cathedral High School in 1966, where he played varsity basketball and was the quarterback of the Panthers football team. He went on to attend the College of the Holy Cross and graduated from American International College in 1970. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School in 1973 while working at the former Schaefer Stadium, where he would raise and lower the field goal net for his all-time favorite team, the New England Patriots. Upon graduation, Tom realized his passion for public speaking and pension planning, which spanned an illustrious 47-year career as a National Spokesperson for Aetna, John Hancock, and Mass Mutual. Tom loved traveling with his colleagues and all the adventures they encountered.
In addition to his professional life, Tom was “The Voice of The Lancers” in Longmeadow, where he found endless joy commentating the high school games and interviewing players on “Coaches Corner.” In retirement, he picked right back up in Clinton, calling games, highlighting the athletes, and starting a television show to bring awareness to town programs and government. Tom was a proud former member of The American Bar Association and The Supreme Court Bar. He was most recently a member of the American International College Board of Trustees, a member of the Westbrook, CT Elks Lodge No, 1784, and the Managing Director of The Retirement Adviser University Speakers Bureau.
Tom met his beloved wife, Karen (Jodoin), in 1967, and just celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary on June 13. They lived in Boston while Tom completed law school and settled in Longmeadow in 1977, when their only child and best friend, daughter Courtney, was born. They lived in Longmeadow among cherished friends until 2020, when Tom retired, and they moved to their beach home in Clinton full-time, where they were blessed with a welcoming community and neighborhood of friends.
In addition to “his girls,” Karen and Courtney, Tom is survived by his loving sister Mary Jo Foster and her husband Robert Zaccagnini of South Elgin, Illinois; brother-in-law Michael Jodoin and wife Wendy of Ludlow, Massachusetts; nieces, Caitlin (Ryan) Beeter, Kelsey Zaccagnini, Montana Zaccagnini, Elizabeth “Bets” (Wes) Fernandes and Lori (Joe) Chiacchia; as well as many grandnieces and nephews.
A memorial scholarship is being established in Tom’s name at The Morgan School in Clinton to carry on his devotion to the athletic program and its participants. Calling hours are from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday, July 15, at the Swan Funeral Home, located at 80 E. Main Street, Clinton. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 16, at St. Mary’s Church of the Visitation, located at 54 Grove Street, Clinton. Burial immediately followed.