The Walworthians: Ormsby, Thomas R.

The Walworthians: Ormsby, Thomas R.

A collection of telephone interviews published in the Wayne County STAR Newspaper and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper, 1994-209

by Kate Chamberlin

Thomas R. Ormsby

November 20, 1996

Thomas R. Ormsby is one of the people in our neighborhood.

“Walworth was in shambles when we moved here 23 years ago,” he said. “They’ve done a great job cleaning it up, re-furbishing the houses and commercial buildings.”

Tom and his wife, Patricia, were living in Penfield when they began to look for a home in the country. They wanted it to be a relatively new home set back from the road. They searched for more than a year. On one of their forays into Walworth, they noticed a small sign that said “For Sale with land” on Walworth-Ontario Road.

“It was the kind of casual sign you’d put on a bicycle you wanted to sell,” Tom laughed. “We knew it was the home we wanted”

The Ormsby family moved into their home in October, 1973.

Their children, Steve, then 17 and Nancy, then 15, transferred into the Wayne Central School District.

Tom immediately began clearing trails on their 11-acre homestead.

“It was fun doing,” Tom said. “I could see immediate results!”

One of the results was a severe case of poison ivy that kept him out of work for several weeks!

Tom feels he has truly been a fortunate man, though.

He attended an all boy’s high school in Connecticut. One day when he was 16, he and a friend were driving home, they happened to see a gorgeous girl driving home from the Girl’s School. They took down her license plate number and asked the police for her address and phone number.

The girl was Pat. They dated for a while, but, they went their separate ways after high school. Pat went   to college and Tom joined the Navy. Eventually, they got back together and were married in 1954.

Tom’s job as a Supervisor of Control Design Engineers at Kodak allowed him to be home every night.

During the week, Tom would work on, in and around the house, but on weekends, they went camping. The tent was piled on top of the car and they spent quality time as a family.

“It was a captured audience. There weren’t any alternatives,” Tom said. “We played a lot of Monopoly and did all kinds of family activities. We had a lot of good times.”

Tom’s family values have shown up in our community, too.

He was an active member of the Walworth-Seely Library long before he became the Library Board Chairman.

“While I didn’t have a big hand in it,” he said. “I am very pleased with the new Town Hall and Library complex.”

When you enter the Library’s meeting room, you can see Tom’s handiwork. He made a special coat rack that can stand 6-feet tall for adults coats or lower to accommodate the children’s coats.

Working with wood is one of Tom’s hobbies.

A Pastor from England, Don Robinson, got him interested in carving walking sticks.

Tom carves a decorative, commemorative walking stick out of Basswood, willow or Boxelder.

Our Town Supervisor, Peg Churchill, has one with the Town Hall on it.

The true walking sticks have to be sturdier, so, they are carved from harder woods. He uses a special carving knife that is similar to a paring knife.

Tom made a sturdy walking stick for Ian Komorowski to use on his walking odyssey across America.

I first met Tom many years ago when his wife and I worked at the Teddy Bear Trail Nursery School. Pat had invited the children and teachers to have a picnic at their home.

I remember thinking that it brought Winnie-the-Pooh and the 100 Acre woods to life for all of us. Tom, of course, was our tour guide.

“I suppose it is safe to tell you that I was the Nursery School’s Santa Claus,” he said. “It was the greatest part-time job I ever had!”

Tom likes the charm of Walworth. He would like to see plans made to preserve its character.

I think with intelligent and compassionate people like Tom Ormsby working with us in our community, Walworth can continue to grow and be great.

Thank you, Tom, you are a Walworthian with the accent on WORTH.