Diamond Tom
After entertaining at a house party on Lake Mission Viejo, Thomas “Diamond Tom” Speiss, 63, passed away Sunday at UCLA Medical Center. He had been battling pulmonary fibrosis and underwent a lung transplant two years ago.
Tom was a Lake resident and regular emcee for MV Tea Party gatherings at La Paz and Marguerite.
He was known for his patriotism which traced back to his father who was a Navy frogman in World War II. Tom followed the Navy tradition when he served during the Viet Nam conflict.
Speiss was also known as a sports fan, entertainer, family man, and successful salesman and executive.
His love for sports was displayed at age 12 when he saved enough money from odd jobs to purchase a season ticket to Cleveland Brown football games, a custom he maintained every season through high school.
As a child he enjoyed performing in school plays and for other live audiences. As a teenager he played trombone in bands and sang doo-wop, blues and jazz. He was an ensemble member during the 60′s for a Cleveland TV musical variety show, Upbeat. In the late 70’s he regularly performed at Cleveland’s Christopher Inn, where he sang his favorite songs of Neal Diamond and Frank Sinatra. At the same time he was performing three nights a week on a TV sports talk show. In the 90’s Tom developed a full stage show and sang at several local Orange County and Houston, Texas restaurants.
In 1969 he met and married Beverly, a flight attendant for National Airlines. Following his Viet Nam tour of duty, Tom took up selling cookware, and became a top salesman. In the 1980’s his company promoted him to Senior Vice President. He was again promoted in the 90′s and relocated to Orange County, California.
With wife & son
Tom is survived by wife Beverly, son Tom III, daughter-in-law Sujata, granddaughter Natasha, and his five siblings and their eight children and three grandchildren.
A private memorial service was held. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent in furtherance of the research being conducted by Dr. Rajeev Saggar, who was Tom’s treating heart and lung physician at the UCLA Medical Center. His research efforts are now being conducted through St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The donations should be payable to St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Thoracic Disease, and sent to:
- St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center
- Heart & Lung Center
- 500 W. Thomas Road, Suite 500
- Phoenix, Arizona 85013
- Attn: Alison Ralbovsky
- E: Alison.Ralbovky@CHW.edu
- Tax ID Number: 86 0096787
- Singing at MV Tea Party event attended by Todd Spitzer
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I knew Tom, my kids knew and loved watching him play at Spazo’s – Tom will be missed.
Singing, Proud to be an American, on the street corners during Mission Viejo’s first Tea Party, with a fabulous entertainer, Diamond Tom, was an inspiring experience. My family and I will miss him. Sincere sympathy to his wife and family.
Thank you for the nice tribute to Diamond Tom. His passing is a loss to everyone. It was a joy and inspiration to know him.
“Diamond Tom” kept the April 15th Mission Viejo TEA Party attendeees entertained between guest speakers as acknowledged by the above photos. Sadly we have lost another great American Patriot. It was an honor to watch him perform.
The family held a beautiful memorial service at a private home today where numerous friends, neighbors and family members expressed their love for the man with the golden voice.
Future TEA Party’s in Mission Viejo will have a tough time finding anyone to provide patriotic music as we enjoyed from Tom, even after he had his lung transplant.
We were entertained by Tom many times at Ciao Trattorias in San Juan Capistrano and spoke to him just a few weeks ago after returning to the area. We looked online today to find his next performance and were stunned to see this news. We are so taken aback and sad!!! We just have to collect our thoughts and be thankful we got to dance and sing to his wonderful shows. Our thoughts are with his family and friends and we will miss him.
I am so saddened to hear of Tom’s passing. I worked very closely with Tom at NCO for many years. He taught me everything I know in this industry and I am forever grateful. He made such a tremendous impression on my life and will never ever be forgotten. Thank you Tom.
My father and I used to have a running joke. He’d say, “You’re the best daughter I’ve ever had.” I’d say, “I’m the only daughter you’ve ever had.”
He had five boys, though. The first was Tom. Tom was my second father. If I blew my nose, he’d know about it.
When my father died, I chose to be angry at Tom. Because I was young, and stupid. It’s amazing how long someone could be so stupid.
After our Mother died in 1987, Tom and Beverly took me into their home. He was still my big brother. I decided to leave, but he was still my big brother.
The last time I talked to Tom, he was recovering from surgery. With everything he had, he still talked to me. He still loved me. Because that’s who he was. That’s who Tom was.
I can’t say that Tom was the best brother I’ve ever had, because I can’t pick one over the other…but his soul stays in my soul. I can say this: If anyone were to have a big brother, you couldn’t go wrong.