Thomas M. Laugeni

Tom was born in New Haven, CT on June 20th,1965 to Thomas G. Laugeni and Joyce Gattilia Laugeni. Typical Laugeni family nights consisted of a home cooked meal followed by a game of parchisi. When he and his brother Greg were not finding ways to give their father grey hair, they were competing on their Atari video games. He spent his childhood summers playing army in the backyard with his cousins, stealing cans of black olives from his mother's cupboard, and whacking watermelon poolside soaking up the sun. As he grew older, he began terrorizing the streets of Englewood Drive in Orange, CT in his go-kart.

 

In his Amity High School years, he had a passion for making his classmates laugh and his teachers jobs as difficult as possible. He noted which girls laughed the hardest and used his baby blue eyes and charismatic personality to woo them into weekend plans. His weekends consisted of partying with his friends or stopping at Amity Meats to cook up some steak sandwiches to eat while he played spades with his cousins.

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During his college years at the University of Tampa he set the course for his life to come. In his first year, he forged a lifetime friendship with Rodney Rubens. Thereafter, he was elected President of his fraternity Theta Chi due to his leadership skills and being able to "drink anyone under the table". His friends and brothers bonded over their love of partying in the Florida sun, gambling, and spitting game to all of young women on campus. Fortunately for Tom, one of those young women was Sue Sharlin. Sue became the love of his life. Tom's kids often heard growing up that - "I fell in love with her big smile and laugh, there isn't a person I enjoy seeing laugh and smile more than your mother".

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Upon graduation, Sue moved with Tom to Connecticut where he began working as a 3rd generation owner of A. Laugeni & Sons bridge painting business. His Business degree, leadership skills, and personality led to his success managing bridge painting projects and building key relationships throughout the industry. To Tom, one of his most important responsibilities at the firm was scouting the best restaurants and food markets in close proximity to each job site, so that his men were fed well. He was proud to be a part of the family tradition and loved to share that between his grandfather Ambrose, father Thomas, and the 3rd Laugeni generation, "A.Laugeni & Sons has painted every bridge in the state of Connecticut."

 

 Tom and Sue married on October 26, 1990. Subsequently, they built their home at 576 Hawkins Rd in Orange, CT. Over that decade, their family grew to include their kids T.J., Jordan, and Amanda in a addition to their two Bichons Gucci and Fendi. Tom was a committed, thoughtful, loving, and funny husband.

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Tom considered raising his kids his life's mission, greatest achievement, and his number one priority at all times. He instilled key values in his kid's upbringing through example and signature catch phrases;  

 

1. "All you have in this world is your family."

2. "It takes nothing to be nice to people."

3."There are more important things in life than money, you just need enough to do what you want to do."

4. "I don't care if it is the CEO or the man sweeping the floors, everyone deserves respect."

5. "Always be loyal to your friends"

6. "There are two types of people that nobody likes in this world, a liar or a sarcastic asshole. Don't be either one."

7. "Don't sweat the small stuff"

 

Each one of these statements would be followed by Tom saying,

"This is very important, don't ever forget that."

 

As a father, Tom had the ability to switch from being the father that teaches his children invaluable life lessons, to his kids' most fun best friend.

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TJ and Tom enjoyed spending time together watching sports, going on trips, and talking about construction. From coaching All-Star baseball teams, to complaining about the New York Giants lack of talent, there was never a dull moment in the Laugeni household. Regardless of the sport or location, Tom would always be at TJ’s games rooting him and his team on. Tom enjoyed taking his kids on surprise trips such as snowboarding up at Mount Snow, exploring areas of Florida, or making his way out West to Colorado and California. Tom would always like to explore new restaurants and activities while on these vacations, which always made for a fun time. While having fun was always an essential for Tom, he also prioritized teaching TJ about construction and having a good work ethic. Tom would take TJ to his job sites to show him the ropes on how a job site functioned, what his company’s responsibilities were, and most importantly what his favorite deli was. Regardless of the town they were in, Tom always had a, “Secret spot” on where to eat.

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Jordan and Tom bonded over their love of football, cooking and busting each others balls. Tom used the time driving Jordan to practice to discuss the game plan for the upcoming football opponent, his philosophy on life, and what they were having for dinner. It was nearly every game that Jordan would jog off the field to receive a high five from Coach Tom and hear him say smiling, "I am so proud of you." When they shared the kitchen it sounded like two old Italian women arguing about the best way to cook a dish. Tom inspired Jordan's love for cooking and taught him the fundamentals of making a great dish. Tom often referred to Jordan as his, "mini me". These similarities in personality resulted in a constant back and forth banter between the two. Each going one step further to insult the other until their insult was witty enough to cause the opposition to break into a laugh or smile. Jordan's favorite thing in the world is to wake up at 10 AM on a Sunday to the smell of his father slow cooking a meat and tomato sauce in preparation for a New York Giants game.

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Amanda is Tom's favorite little girl. When the kids were young, Tom intentionally made sure both of his sons knew Amanda was precious and was to be protected by them. He demonstrated this to them by holding young Amanda close to him, while he warded off the boys with his other arm. He would tell her to say to her brothers "don't touch us!" and she would laugh as he flung them across the room. As Amanda grew older, their relationship remained the same silly way. Tom and Amanda gave each other nicknames, spoke in their own secret language, and laughed about ways they could bother Amanda's mom and brothers. Tom couldn't go a day without calling Amanda multiple times just to ask what she was eating for lunch and always did his best to drag their phone calls on for as long as possible. Tom and Amanda were able to have fun doing absolutely nothing, as long as they were together. 

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During Tom's retirement years he focused on spending more time with his kids, sharing his passion for cooking, exercising, rooting for the New York Giants, spending time with friends, and listening to music in the sunshine. He left behind a collection of videos of original and reposted content on his TikTok page @Toastcrunch65. This collection includes Tom's how-to-cook videos, pictures of the food he was enjoying, and whatever else peeked Tom's interest. 

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A mantra that Tom lived by was "Live life like it's the 2 minute warning." This life philosophy empowered him to create many smiles and memories in his 57 years.

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