Tommy Portrait of Thomas Petersen by Jeannie Moberly

From his mother Linda Petersen: Thomas was born on July 11th 1984, he weighed just 8 pounds when the nurse placed him in my arms. As a small child he was very energetic, always getting into things, very inquisitive, always asking why or how. As he grew into a man a lot of those same characteristics stayed with him. He was a loving, funny, outgoing guy.  

Tom was murdered by his robber who shot him at point blank range on January 24, 2017. He was just 32 years old on that cold winter night. His baby daughter had turned 1 on January 9th.  She will never get to know him or know how much he loved her.

He was a father, a brother, a son, a nephew and a best friend. He had a great sense of humor and the biggest smile that could melt your heart and brighten any room he walked into. He gave the biggest bear hugs and was a protector for everyone he cared about. He loved children and animals. He also cared about people who were less fortunate.  If he had something that someone down on their luck needed, he would give it to them. He never asked for anything in return.

He was a talented butcher. He loved music, to read, to write poetry and he drew beautiful pictures. He was learning how to cut hair.

We are the parents of a murdered child. It is not a club we want to be in, nor do we wish this pain on any other parent. We just want our son Thomas back but we know that isn’t going to happen. We treasure the memories of the time we had together and thank God for the short time that he gave him to us. A day doesn’t go by that we don’t think of him, something we want to tell him or think of something he said or did.  Sometimes these thoughts come with tears sometimes they come with a smile or a chuckle.

From the curator: When I first saw this small, detailed painting it was with both a smile and a chuckle. I don’t know the specifics of the images and words chosen by Jeannie, the artist, but I was immediately lost in the swirling, significant symbols surrounding the image of this man-boy. He seems to be zipping up his jacket as if ready for a journey, his adolescent sized sneakers ready to take him, and a doorway filled with light behind him. Perhaps he has just arrived and is unzipping. This is truly a charming artwork and seems to give us a glimpse of this delightful young man and help us to understand what Linda has written about her dear son.

Tommy Portrait of Thomas Petersen by Jeannie Moberly acrylic on stretched canvas 30”x30” 2019