Thomas 'Tom' Andrew Yazvac

THOMAS "TOM" ANDREW YAZVAC

Cedar Rapids

Thomas "Tom" Andrew Yazvac was generous, gentle and a gentleman to the core, a loving father and a delighted grandfather, but most of all, a devoted husband to his wife of 53 years, Kay Ales Yazvac.

He now flies with the angels, his body loosened from the tenuous tether that tied him to this Earth. Tom is free of the debilitating frailties of a body that served for 85 years. He succumbed to liver cancer Sept. 20, 2019, with family at his side. Tom was born Aug. 17, 1934, in Chicago, the son of Thomas Yazvac and Josephine Brockovich Yazvac. He graduated from Youngstown State (Ohio) University and served as 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Army at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico.

Tom was of Croatian heritage, tall and broad-shouldered, a "big guy." A talented electrical engineer, he worked for 20 years as product manager at Square D in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He then went to Gould Corp. in Chicago, and finally General Electric in Plainville, Conn. He owned several patents and his own company, Electric Power Technologies (E.P.T.).

As a young single man, Tom was president of the YMCA in Cedar Rapids. Always gregarious, he also served as president of the C.R. Bachelors' Club, an organization in the 1960s where eligible young bachelors invited the prettiest damsels in the city to cocktail parties. There he met Kay Ales, who in today's parlance was "hot." He wined and dined her and they were married on a beautiful fall day, Oct. 8, 1966.

An avid sports fan, he was a keen follower of his beloved Youngstwon State Penguins, the Iowa Hawkeyes, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Steelers. Tom's sports passion was golf, where he carried a scratch handicap in his younger days and seemingly could remember every shot he took. Despite his limitations later in life, he still watched golf on T.V. or in person and read up on the latest trends in the sport.

He is survived by his wife, Kay, of Granby, Conn., and formerly of Simsbury, Conn.; son, Peter of Kearney, Neb.; three grandchildren, Ashley, Gabrielle and Thomas of Odessa, Fla.; a sister, Jeannette of Youngstown, Ohio; daughter-in-law, Angela Yazvac Huber, of Odessa, Fla.; sister-in-law, Norma Graybill, and husband Chuck of Hiawatha, Iowa; plus several nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Tom Ales Yazvac; and a brother-in-law, Don Ales.

Calling hours will be 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Vincent Funeral Home, 880 Hopmeadow St., in Simsbury. A Funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30, at St. Mary's Church, 942 Hopmeadow St., in Simsbury. Burial with military honors will follow in Simsbury Cemetery.

Memorials in lieu of flowers, may be given to the American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org, 825 Brooke St., Rocky Hill, CT 06067, or the Arthritis Foundation, www.arthritis.org, 35 Cold Spring Rd., Ste. 412, Rocky Hill, CT 06067.

Please visit Tom's "book of memories" at www.vincentfuneralhome.com for online tributes.