 I had the opportunity to sit and chat with Tom Wolpert on Friday, and it was so interesting. Tom's family lived in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia.....Dad was a dentist and Mom was at home and had issues of her own to battle, sometimes unsuccessfully. In 1951, Dad decided to re-enlist in the military as an Officer/Dentist and was stationed in Germany with his family....in 1953, Tom's brother was born as a new addition to the family. After becoming disenchanted with the military and the housing they provided, Dad decided to move back to the states, and the family settled in the Montgomeryville area. Tom attended a Quaker School named Plymouth Meeting Friends up to 4th grade and then went to Germantown Academy. As a young teen, Tom made the decision to leave the family home to make his way to San Francisco. He headed for Haight Ashbury, in the "Summer of Love" Haight Ashbury was a diverse area, filled with hippies and runaways, and most of all, freedom! He had attended Polytechnic High School but that was cut short. The police started to "round" up runaways, and Tom found himself in a paddywagon and was arrested and put into juvenile hall in 1967. The authorities called his Dad, and with that, Tom moved back home and graduated from North Penn High School in 1969. At the time of the draft, Tom's number was 155, but, luckily for him, he was not called to service. Instead, in 1969, he went back to San Francisco and attended San Francisco State for four years, then dropped out. He took odd part-time jobs and lived in Castro Valley, California, where it was sunny all the time....During his time in California, Tom met the famous Harvey Milk at his camera shop! ....in 1976, at the age of 25, after burning out on the California lifestyle...Tom came home! He worked as a head hunter for 4 years and went to Villanova University for evening classes to finish his college degree....While in Villanova, the required curriculum was 12 credits of religious training.....After the reading and teachings that he was exposed to, he became a Christian at the age of 29, and was baptized in the Lutheran Church. Following his true passion, he became a freelance writer writing various magazine articles on such topics as finance and computers. One life-changing weekend, he attended a Christian Conference in Sandy Cove, Maryland, and met the love of his life, Erma, whom he eventually married. In the 1980's, Tom had various writing jobs involving documentation and technical writing. In 1988, a devastating event occurred in the Wolpert family.....Tom's brother died of a heroin overdose, in an era where it wasn't so well known or widespread. Tom's father was so saddened by this, tragically, he died of a "broken heart", a really severe heart issue. Dad's passing became a legal issue within the family....and Tom defended his stance pro se (without counsel). At the time, Erma and Tom were married with three children, and Erma was a stay-at-home Mom.....while watching him go through this legal battle, Erma suggested that Tom go to law school as he seemed to love it. Thinking it could be the furthest from reality, but, knowing his wife would be behind him, Tom attended 2.5 years of law school at Weidner University in 1990, and graduated as Class Valedictorian in 1993. Erma and Tom had their fourth child as he was graduating law school! His first job was at a large law firm in Philadelphia, and as life goes, the job lasted only two years. It was not a good fit for Tom or the firm. Once again, Erma said with a loving heart....."Tom, maybe you should go out on your own"...He opened his first shop in West Chester, then relocated to his home, and then grew the business enough to move to Royersford....Erma and Tom purchased the building Tom's office is currently in, at 527 N. Main Street, Royersford in 2005. He partnered with Dave Schreiber in 2010, and together they have built a thriving law practice...currently, Tom is trying to slow down a little, being the tender age of 71! When I asked what both Erma and Tom do for fun, I heard this.....Erma is very frugal....and Erma loves to shop at Thrift shops to buy books and ships them back to the publisher to make some extra money! Tom has always had a love of writing....check out his blog, "rightfromthehip.com". In the blog, you will find religious poetry, politics, etc. Another thing that Tom does that I was astounded by....he developed a relationship with an inmate serving a life sentence in Holmesburg Prison. He met Darryl Blackwell when he was in volunteer ministry with two organizations from 1987 - 1990 in Holmesburg Prison. Darryl is currently 61 years old and a veteran. Tom and Darryl talk weekly and Tom visits Darryl often. Tom understands that Darryl is guilty of the crimes he committed, but, has compassion for Darryl as a fellow human being. In pondering Tom's life story, it is filled with obstacles, and avenues less traveled....but, every time adversity came into his life, and those times were many, Tom kept going. I believe Erma was his champion. She believed in him and helped him to become the man he is today. Thank you, Tom, for spending time with me. |
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