Rich Archbold: Longtime P-T columnist 'always put readers first'

It was 36 years ago, but I remember clearly Tom Heessy’s first day on the job as columnist for the Press-Telegram.

Tom was worried and asked me a startling question: “What happens if no one reads me and there’s no response?”

Many times after that, Tom would complain that he was getting too many responses and didn’t see how he could answer all of them.

Over the years we shared many laughs over his initial worries about not getting readers.

That was Tom, my colleague and pal, always fretting about how he was doing, even as his column grew in popularity. Eventually, he eaed the unofficial title of “Mr. Long Beach.”

Tom’s Irish heart finally gave out Saturday moing when he died at Alamitos Belmont Rehabilitation Hospital.

His wife Debbie the Duchess was at his side – just like she has been for almost 50 years. I have always thought that Debbie was Tom’s secret to success as she worked quietly behind the scenes to help him with his many campaigns and to calm his sometimes feisty Irish temper. He called her his Florence Nightingale.

In his more than 30 years as a columnist for the Press-Telegram, Tom was everywhere, whether writing about his dogs, Phydeaux, Molly and Malone, or leading a campaign to send more than 100,000 books to American troops in Desert Storm.

Tom gave appearances all over town and never tued down a request to speak. One time he got so wo down his doctor told him to slow down, but Tom didn’t listen.

He had a unique way of coecting with readers that made him like a friend putting his arm around you to brighten your day.

He did that for an entire community, and he became a Long Beach institution.

With Tom, readers always came first, no matter how long it took on the many community campaigns he launched.

One of his proudest achievements was starting the newspaper’s Send-A-Kid-to Camp Fund which has raised more than $1 million, sending hundreds of needy youngsters to camps in local mountains.

He also raised money to restore a crumbling monument on Tarawa Island, site of one of the bloodiest battles in World War II. He championed “Community Heroes,” a program to recognize people doing heroic things without worrying about who got credit. He led Public Safety Summits and campaigns against drug addiction and animal abuse.

Bob Hope said he wanted to be “Tom’s paperboy” delivering a special Press-Telegram section with reader Idea to the crew of the Long Beach based battleship New Jersey in the Middle East.

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Heessy wrote about a baby boy’s struggle to survive in spite of weighing just l pound, 7 ounces at birth. He led parades for the Long Beach Little League team that won back-to-back world championships.

In what became a St. Patrick’s Day ritual, he wrote about the World’s Worst Irish Jokes, most of which made me wince. Example: “Fly the Firefighter says firefighters don’t go to hell because they would put it out.”

Perhaps his most significant accomplishment was shining a light on mental illness. He wrote movingly about his son, Daniel, who committed suicide in 2005. In a special series, “Suicide: Out of the Darkness,” Tom wrote about his son and others.

“This is a story filled with private thoughts and anecdotes,” he wrote. “We share them, however uncomfortably, in the hope that something good can come from our experience; that it may help others, as it helped us, to treasure our lives and each other.”

Later, he wrote about the mental health struggles of Nancy Foster, wife of former Mayor Bob Foster.

In an email to Debbie, Nancy called Tom “the kindest man in the world. I will always be so appreciative to tell my mental health story with him.”

Tom had many health issues he struggled with. He suffered a mini-stroke, or what he called “a waing stroke,” in 2007 and decided it was time to retire.

In his final column, he wrote to readers: “It has been a joy knowing all of you, being a part of your lives and having you be part of mine. Each of you has, in your own way, contributed to my life.”

For the past two years, Tom has been in and out of hospitals trying to fix his weakening heart. Apart from the physical pain, there was another hurt: A feeling that he was being forgotten by readers.

“There’s nothing worse than not being remembered,” he told me a few months ago.

That feeling changed memorably last year when Rhiaon Acree, owner of Cambrian Homecare, said she wanted to recognize someone whose words had been delivered to driveways for more than 30 years.

Cabrian Homecare had been helping Tom with his rehabilitation therapy. Acree was at the lunch to receive her Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

When Acree aounced Tom’s name and asked him to stand, the packed audience started applauding and gave him a rousing standing ovation. It brought tears to Tom’s eyes as he struggled to stand from his wheelchair.

Later, he told me how good it felt to be remembered.

Mary Thoits, a longtime friend from the Senior Studies Center at Long Beach City College, said Tom was developing new readers.

“I am sure Tom is now telling stories to the angels,” she said.

And I’m sure that Tom, a diehard Notre Dame fan, also is waking up the echoes and shaking down the thunder from the sky.