Thomas James McGrath "Tommy Mac" Tribute

Tom was born in the Everton area of Liverpool, in 1929, to TJ McGrath and his wife Katherine, nee Johnson. He was the eldest of three children, with a younger sister Kitty, and brother Georgie. During WW2 he was evacuated to the Welsh mountains near Betws Y Coed. Sadly, his evacuation guardian was an elderly man who died just before the May blitz, when Tom was sent back to Liverpool to experience the worst of the bombing raids....He was in the RAF for National Service, and when he was discharged, he went to work in J Bibby's , in Liverpools docklands. His father was a sheet-metal worker here, and Tom became a boilermaker. He was to work here throughout his life.After several years of courtship, he married Irene Caulfield, who lived in a neighbouring street. They were married in 1955, and shared a home with various family members, until they moved to their own home in a new housing development in the late 1950's.They had their first child, Irene, a son Tom, and then a longer gap until Patsy and Graeme .Their first grandchild Lindsey was followed by Craig, Sami and later Jacob.The first of the great-grandchildren, Robyn, was followed later by Keira and Seamus.Tom worked very hard throughout his life, doing long patterns of shiftwork and even going back to school to do advanced studies in his 60's. He retired due to ill health in the 1980s, and spent more time with the family, and working in his garden. He was a lifelong Liverpool FC supporter, a voracious reader and enjoyed the outdoors, camping,caravanning, walking and the seaside.In 2007 Tom was diagnosed again with cancer, and after a dignified and courageous fight, he passed away peacefully at the Marie Curie Centre in Woolton, Liverpool. He was a very special man, and is sadly missed by all that knew him.