Eulogy for Tom Foster

Tom passed away on Friday 17th February, aged 79.

Tom and his wife Ann got involved with the club, as so many do, when his children June, Alan and Neil took an interest in swimming at a young age.  They proved to be excellent swimmers and that was enough to launch Tom into a range of volunteering roles that he fulfilled in different ways for over thirty years.

He joined the Glenrothes Club Committee in the late 1980s.  Tom was an accountant to trade – he went on to become Fife Council’s Chief Accountant – so the club was blessed with someone whose knowledge and skills about all matters financial proved to be invaluable.  Under Tom’s guidance for around twenty years, the club’s funds grew and were in the best of hands.  The Treasurer’s job is huge in an organisation like ours, but that wasn’t enough for Tom who then set out on an additional ‘career’ in swimming as a technical official, working his way through the ranks to become a top swimming referee, both for the club, for East District Swimming, and also for a number of other clubs who sought out his services.

As his children grew older and moved away, Tom continued his swimming work, moving for a time into the President’s role at Glenrothes while also getting more and more involved supporting East District swimming.  He also took on other roles, most notably with Disability Sport Fife.  As DSF said in their own tribute to Tom, he was one of the

From 2005, Tom was the Independent Examiner for Disability Sport Fife, the Fife Disabled Sports Trust and the Scottish Disabled Sports Trust, and was the independent auditor of Glenrothes Amateur Swimming Club, presenting the club annual accounts at the AGM as recently as November 2020.  Sadly, this was to be Tom’s last act for GASC, as a serious stroke in February 2021 created health issues from which he was never able to recover.

Tom was rightly awarded Life Membership of GASC for all his invaluable work over many years, and his fantastic contribution will never be forgotten.  One of Tom’s best projects was when he took on the role of Gala Convener for the Glenrothes Spring Meet, an event that, thanks to him, became one of the most respected invitation galas in the swimming calendar.  Fittingly, there could not be a more appropriate place for us to show our thanks and gratitude for all that Tom has done than at this weekend’s GASC Spring Graded Meet.