Thomas Patrick Lattimer

Birth: March 10, 1953 | Died: July 13, 2023

Tom was born upstate in New York, March 10, 1953, second son of Stan and Kay, lived six years in Seneca Falls, moving to Anaheim, California in 1959. He went to Sunkist School, South Junior High, and graduated a semester early from Katella High School in 1971.



Tom's adventurous spirit sent him hitchhiking through Europe that year with boyhood friend, Paul Noonan. He went on to Cal State Long Beach, as an Industrial Technology major, switched majors as a senior, and graduated with his B.A. in Geography.

Tom's strong work ethic embodied his “work hard, play hard" philosophy. His early jobs were in foodservice, Pup ‘n Taco and Chicken Delight. At 18, he began learning the cabinet trade, at friend and neighbor, Don Sinclair's cabinet shop, leading to a lifelong career in the cabinet, millwork and fixture industry.

With a keen sense of humor, dry wit, business sense, caregiver's heart, and artist's soul, Tom was very private, and fiercely loyal to friends and family. He started an art studio in the family garage, where he spent hours drawing and painting. He learned guitar, and was an avid lover of all types of music, a lifelong fan of the Grateful Dead, among others. He worked long days, still having energy to enjoy friends, hit parties, attend concerts, and embark on cross-country drives and camping trips with friends or family. Tom’s unique taste in cars was legendary, tooling around California in a succession of classics (Pontiacs, old Jaguar Mark II sedan, Cadillac convertible) and whimsical cars, such as his refurbished ambulance that was perfect to show up in at a Halloween party with a couple friends as "Ghostbusters.”



Despite hard knocks in business, Tom’s remarkable tenacity, resilience, grace, sense of humor, and strong support from family and friends enabled him to keep moving forward, professionally and personally. Following his father, Stan's death, Tom sold his business interests (including his whimsically named company, “MT Cabinets”) to live with and take care of his ailing mother in Anaheim, as her devoted primary caregiver for five years.Even while doing so, Tom also learned to play pedal steel guitar, with “The Pigeons,” was a popular So Cal country music band in the early 2000s.



Tom’s wit and zest for life endeared him to family and friends. Always Always eager to pursue anything for fun, his nieces and nephews dubbed him “Uncle Dude.” Tom was also the family historian and genealogist, collecting and curating a trove of information on the family history that his surviving siblings are now working feverishly to back up. Tom is survived by three brothers, Jerry, Brian, and Tim, his sister Trish, as well as five nieces (April, Traci, Amanda, Katy, and Micaela) and two nephews (Michael and Gabriel).



Visiting/Services will be held for Tom at 10 AM, at Hilgenfeld Mortuary in Anaheim, Monday, July 24. As Tom always held special a affinity for his hometown, he will be transported east, for burial near his parents at St. Columbkille Catholic Cemetery in Seneca Falls, NY. Tom's family is grateful for all the expressions of love and support already received.

All expressions of sympathy, including flowers, honorary donations to a favorite charity, or the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, or the National Womens Hall of Fame, or cards, or remembrances posted on sites We Remember, Find a Grave etc, are welcome.