Thomas Eliot Ashe passed away peacefully on July 20, 2013. He had been in declining health for some years as a result of radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s disease at age 20. Tom was born in Seattle on July 16, 1966 in the middle of a lightning storm. At age three he moved to California.

At 12 he helped build the family sailboat Kismet, and he and his Grandma Bee (Callahan) laminated all the deck beams. Tom moved to Lopez at 14 and lived with his Grandma, attending school with the class of ’84.

He worked for Jeremy Snapp after school, helping restore wooden boats, and later went to Gompers Boat Building School in Seattle. He did a lot of the interior finish work on Kismet.

After living in Anacortes for a few years he returned to Lopez, where he worked for WSA Construction and Mud Bay Builders. He did general carpentry but really excelled at finish work. Tom grew up with a great love for the outdoors: back packing, camping, skiing, water skiing and generally keeping up with his two “Big” brothers.

Tom (or Tommy as some people still fondly call him) is survived by his father Dave Ashe of Lake Almanor, Calif.., mother Jackie Ashe of Lopez Island, Wash., brother Chris Ashe of Bellevue, Wash., brother Rick Ashe of Martinez, Calif., and numerous cousins, aunts, uncles nieces and nephews.