Keep Postal systems alive, buy stamps and mail often 19 Apr 2010 01:23:44pm
Hello,
It is with great regret that I inform you that my father, Thomas Harley, Sr. has passed away. I know most of you only knew him as an aquaintence through his love of Stamp Collecting. He was a great man that was very insightful in a variety of subjects. I know that he was trading stamps with some or maybe all of you. To the best of my knowledge, his dealings have been complete and that you maybe setting aside coil stamps for him. Please do not send any additional packages to him. Unfortunately, neither my brother nor I have an interest in continuing his collection. If any of you need to contact me please feel free to email at artharley@netzero.net and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
Respectfully,
Art Harley Avonmore, PA
(Message edited by sponthetrona2 on April 19, 2010)
I feel incredibly sad at the moment. I worked with Tom on a number of issues with the Stamporama website over the last 18 months. He always had a thoughtful perspective even though he wasn't a computer technical person. He alway appreciated what I could do for him. I'll miss him.
the great thing about us stamp collectors is that, when blessed with a good friendship, we live on and, with Tom, in more ways than one. As with Jerry and Dakota and John Tweedie, Tom lives on in memory. Even more than that, Tom lives on in collections that have gone from him to me. Much of his militaria collection is intertwined with mine, but even more of his correspondence collections remains grouped as units awaiting a geneological explanation that will, I'm afraid, never come. Tom joins Mary Jane Campbell among those members from whom my collection has benefited and, better yet, which will constantly serve as reminders of them until I go, unless i can properly write it all up. Here's hoping. Tom, Jerry, Mary Jane, John, Dakota, you're in my prayers.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
So sad to hear about this. Tom and I had some trades and I sent him coils many times. Coils = Tom that's a fact in Stamporama. He will be sorely missed by his friends and family.
Just found this thread and got all teary eyed. I didn't know Mr. Harley that well. Only had one or two trades with him, but I had recently been saving covers with coil stamps from my local water dept. One of each kind and one for each day of the year... So there on my desk was a 6x9 envelope that I had started stuffing with the next batch of covers for him. Though I didn't know him personally, I feel we were aquainted through the stamp collecting community/forums.
My sincere sympathy,,,,, Everyone knows Tom's passion for coils,,, but my connection to him was with the one-for-each-day collection of the breast cancer research stamps that he and I collected. We traded many dates and types of covers. I will miss him.
Dear Art, I only just heard being out of the loop while traveling. So your dad has taken the journey we all will take, some sooner some later. David said it well. I remember touching bases with your dad on many posts, but never got to trade with him. If I recall correctly, our last interaction was with fancy cancels, where I posted some stuff for him. He came across as a fun guy. Honor him in memory for all that he was able to bring into your and others lives. Stay strong, and channel light. Dan
I only just heard about this the other day, and somehow missed this thread on SOR. Jerry, your post is probably the single biggest thing I'll remember about Tom: his commas. They always made me smile, because you knew it was Tom posting just by seeing those, you didn't even have to look at the username. He will be missed.
President - West Essex Philatelic Society www.wepsonline.org 30 Apr 2010 10:45:49am
re: Closed Album: Thomas Harley Sr.
I know what you mean Randy. If a stamp was available at the post office in sheet or coil format, I would always buy the coil so I could use it on mail to Tom. I would always hold back on the PNC's to other people so that I could use them for Tom's mailing. I'll miss his input (even if I disagreed with it at times) and his humor. His passing is a major loss for the SOR community. Now I'm going to have to join the PNC3 club to gain the knowledge that Tom had at the drop of a hat.
We have another member equally well versed in US coils and PNCs: Saleem Khan. Where Tom's availability was often limited by his computer, which was always blowing up, Saleem is limited by the sowing and harvesting seasons, so he, too, tends to be around, then not. I used Saleem's extensive PNC charts to build a nice, if terribly incomplete, collection of PNCs that ultimately ended up with Tom. And, like Randy, I have a fat envelope waiting to go to Tom, full of on-cover coils; and, like Randy, I can't seem to take it out ot Tom's envelope.
David
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"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"
OMG, how did I miss this notice! I had been doing business with Tom since Aug 2004,and we spoke on the phone many times. A real gentleman, who loved his stamps. My belated condolences to his family. Richaard