Thomas "Tom" A. Scully

Another tortured Chicago Bears fan was put out of his misery on August 18, 2023, at the age of 77. Thomas Anthony Scully died after a long, valiant effort fending off pulmonary fibrosis, tolerating a superhuman number of CT scans and concerned family members yelling at him to “stop walking so fast!” Sometimes all in the same day.

Tom was born on August 20, 1945 to Renee Scully (Escudero) and Thomas Joseph Scully and raised on the mean streets of Chicago. His father died when he was a child, so trusted family friend, war hero, movie star, and wise guy, William “uncle Bill” LaValley assumed fatherly duties. Tom eventually met his high school sweetheart, Judith Waldau, who is probably the sole reason he did not end up fencing watches and transistor radios out of his mother’s garage.

Tom is survived by his beautiful wife of more than 55 years, Judy, and two extremely good-looking children, Thomas Anthony II “Tommy” and Shari Ann as well as their families. He is also survived by his 95-year-old sister Fran Stokes—who recently remarked that, for some reason, heaven isn’t ready for her just yet—and many treasured family members and friends (you know who you are).

Using her dad’s gift of wit and good looks, Shari married Rick Kempf, former rugby player turned renowned mechanical engineer. This resulted in three wonderful (always well behaved) grandchildren: John, Evan, and Katherine. Tommy followed in Shari’s footsteps and married esteemed structural engineer and part-time world saver, Emily Lorenz, which added two more lovely grandkids to the mix, Aidan and Elise.

A proud Navy veteran, Tom was stationed in San Francisco and assigned to the USS Ely. While enlisted, he suffered a knee injury playing football that prevented him from going to Vietnam. His war stories consisted of winning wheelchair races in the hospital against wounded soldiers coming home from overseas. He talked fondly of those times, and those men, which made him a strong supporter of military veterans from then on.

Tom enjoyed watching his Chicago sports teams and would argue that Walter Payton was the greatest football player of all time. After the Cubs broke his heart in 1969, he switched his allegiance to the White Sox, resulting in a divided household; Judy retained her status as a Cubs fan. He was also a Blackhawks aficionado, but his two favorite hockey players were his grandsons, Johnny and Evan.

He wore many hats: football captain, amateur boxer, little league coach, bookkeeper, small business owner, vending machine route supervisor, terrible dancer, wise shaman, and teller of Mark Twain and gangster movie quotes. But the hat Tom wore the best, and for which he will be most missed, was devoted family man to his wife, kids, and grandkids.

After their retirement, Tom and Judy traveled the world, visiting Greece, Italy, France, and Hawaii. They also made road trips with friends across the US and were happy to accompany (tolerate) countless Disney vacations by their daughter.

Tom had the sometimes-annoying superpower of “not letting things get to him.” His life philosophy frequently incorporated the old adage of not worrying over the things you can’t control, which he embraced until the very end. His love of life and humor will forever be missed by his family and friends.

Visitation will be Saturday, September 23, 2023 from 2 PM until the Celebration of Tom’s life at
5:30 PM at Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 419 E. Terra Cotta Ave. (Rte. 176),
Crystal Lake, IL 60014. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation by clicking here or the Disabled American Veterans by clicking here . Please kindly note in your donation that it is in memory of Tom Scully.

If you’re so inclined, you can also make yourself a Crown Royal on the rocks, put on Goodfellas, and give a toast to the man.