William Thomas (Tom) Fagan

June 5, 1945 - September 14, 2013

William Thomas "Tom" Fagan died in Del Mar, California on September 14. He was 68. Tom was born in Vermillion, Alberta, the oldest of the seven Fagan children. He was the son of Tom and Betty Fagan of East Lansing, Michigan. Tom was pre-deceased by his parents and his wife of 42 years Marilyn (Wierman) Fagan. He is survived by his daughter Elizabeth Hughes (Mike), of Scottsdale, Arizona, and sons Brian (Shiraz), of Del Mar, California, and Tim (Yvonne), of Toluca Lake, California, and three grandsons Colin and Brady Fagan and Joe Hughes. He leaves behind his siblings Ann, Mary Ellen, Jim, Paul, John and Mike. An accomplished athlete, Tom played football, basketball and baseball at East Lansing High School for legendary coaches, Roy Kramer and Gus Ganakas. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College (1967) where he played football and rugby and was a member of the Phi Delta Alpha fraternity. He earned his law degree at the University of Michigan (1972) where he was also on the rugby team. While he was in the Army, he was assigned to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, where he learned to speak Russian. Tom was a partner in Widett, Widett, Slater & Goldman in Boston. While practicing in Boston, he was an Advisor to Harvard's Trial Advocacy Workshop. In 1984 he moved his family to Honolulu and joined O'Connor, Playdon and Guben, one of Hawaii's oldest law firms. He was an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Hawaii Pacific University and a member of HPU's International Studies Advisory Council. His Hawaii Pacific University students honored him last year: "You guided us on our journey and pointed us in the right direction. We laughed, we loved, we cried. Best of all we learned." Tom served as President of the Dartmouth Club of Hawaii and was a member of the Exchange Club of Bishop Street. Tom was a very competitive athlete. He loved music, regularly attending live music performances. Most remember him as a raconteur with a quick wit, never one to mince words or shy away from a debate. Tom was an excellent lawyer, a revered academician and a scholar. But first and foremost, he was a loving and proud husband and father and a big brother in the truest sense. He was a great and loyal friend and a man who was loved and respected by so many. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any charitable contributions be made in Tom's honor to the Boo Boo Memorial Scholarship Fund at P.O. Box 308, East Lansing, MI 48826. Memorial celebrations are being planned for Honolulu this fall and in Charlevoix, Michigan next August.


Published in Lansing State Journal on September 22, 2013

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