Thomas Francis "Tom" Mines
Marriages
Nancy (McHugh) Mines - August 14, 1954
Chicago, IL
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A12 - January 21, 2022
Thomas Francis Mines (Tom) was born on August 13, 1930, in Highland Park (Chicago), Illinois and died on August 22, 2021, at age 91, in San Diego, California, surrounded by his children. Tom was the third of four children, his parents were James Albert Mines and Katherine Bridget Kelley Mines, and his siblings were Katherine (Cosgrove), James Mines and Joan (Cox). He attended Catholic schools, St. Jerome's for K-8, and St. George's for high school.
Tom married Nancy McHugh on August 14, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois. (Their first date was a blind date, while Tom was home on a short military leave.) Like Tom, Nancy was born and raised in Chicago. Nancy died in 2013, at age 81, shortly before their 59th wedding anniversary. They had seven children, two of their children, Tom Jr. and Susan, died prior to Tom. His surviving children are Mike Mines (and Julie Walther), Chris(tine) Mines (and Chet Roe, III), Kathy Manley, Jim Mines, and Joan Sego (and Steve). Tom and Nancy had 8 grandchildren, Tommy Mines, III, Laker Mines, Kate Manley, Chet Roe IV, Michael Mines, Grace Mines, Kendal Sego and Keely Sego. They also are survived by Nancy's brother, Jim McHugh (and Diane) and her cousin, Peggy Dyra Malloy.
Shortly after high school, in 1951, Tom was drafted into the Army. He served during the Korean War and was assigned to the 7th Army headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Tom told us many times how invaluable his military service was in opening his eyes to the "diversity in people and the world".
After marrying, Tom went to college on the GI Bill and graduated from Loyola University, Chicago, with a Bachelor of Science, Major: Commerce, in 1957. To support his young family, since he and Nancy had three children before he. graduated, he also worked nights full-time, in the mailroom, for A.C. Nielsen's Corporation while attending college.
Tom began his career in the 60's, the decade many companies began using large-scale computer systems. IBM dominated the field and, since Nielsen's was a data-intensive company, Tom mastered the operation of these early mainframe computers and became one of the early "computer experts." From his start in the mailroom, Tom rose through the management ranks at Nielsen's.
In 1964, Tom was transferred from Chicago to Boulder, Colorado and became one of the top executives at Nielsen's subsidiary, Neodata. Although they hated to leave Chicago, with its big city amenities, their parents, and numerous other family and friends, Tom and Nancy came to love the small town Boulder was at that time. They loved raising their children in Boulder and had many wonderful friends there. They learned to ski and taught their children; they both loved skiing with their children and grandchildren well into their 70's.
Tom and Nancy saw the potential of Vail as a ski area, and left Winter Park in the early 1970's; their shared passion for skiing and Tom's love for golf eventually led them to Arrowhead. Retiring and living full-time in a home, built by their sons, in the ski and golf community of Arrowhead was a huge jump from their very first ski home, which was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath, single wide-trailer, in Fraser, CO, about 3 miles from Winter Park, CO. Their second Arrowhead home (also built by their sons) became their final home; they had many wonderful years skiing, golfing, and spending time with their children, grandchildren and other family members and friends.
Tom will be forever missed by his children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and many friends.
Per Tom's wishes, no services were held.
