Submitted by: Dan Rich
Thomas J. Roemer
Thomas J. Roemer, 79, of South Bend,
Indiana, a lifetime area resident, died on Monday, December 4, in
the Healthwin Specialized Care Facility.
He was born in South Bend to Carmel Luther Roemer and
William F. Roemer on July 7, 1927. They lived for 50 years on
Angela Boulevard directly across the street from the campus of
the University of Notre Dame where Tom's father was a professor
of philosophy. Tom's mother taught at St. Joseph's Grade School
of South Bend where a fourth generation of Roemer children
currently attends. Tom represents the fifth generation of
Luthers/Roemers living in South Bend. Bill and Carmel had seven
children, William, Thomas, Joseph, James, Charles, Mary and
Walter. All of their children earned degrees at either Notre Dame
or St. Mary's College.
Tom graduated from Holy Cross Seminary at Notre Dame and then
spent 11 months at the Novitiate in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. He
left the Novitiate to begin undergraduate school at Notre Dame
but was drafted into the U.S. Army before completing college.
While in the Army he served in Japan where he helped the Special
Services win championships as a pitcher in the baseball league
and as a forward in the basketball league. When he left the Army
and returned from Japan, Tom finished his undergraduate studies
at Notre Dame. After college, Tom earned his law degree at the
University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and was a member of
both the Florida and Indiana bars.
He married Shirley Shoemaker of South Bend
in 1951 and had six children, Beth Roemer (Craig Sirnio),
Ginny Roemer (Joseph Zicherman) and Terry Roemer (Gary Padavic),
all now living in northern California, Cathy Roemer (David Storey),
who lives in the South Bend area, Michael Roemer, who lives in
New York City, and Mary Margaret Roemer, who died as a newborn.
He has three grandchildren, Matthew Storey, a student at Notre
Dame, Neil Storey, a student at St. Joseph High School in South
Bend, and Nathan Zicherman, a student at Tehiya Hebrew Day School
in Berkeley, California.
He is survived by his five children, two brothers and a sister,
James (MaryAnn) Roemer of New Buffalo, Michigan, Charles (Denise)
Roemer of Mishawaka, Indiana, and Mary Roemer of South Bend,
Indiana. Two other brothers, Bill (Jeanne) Roemer and Joe
(MaryAnn) Roemer, predeceased Tom. Tom's nieces and nephews and
their children now number 75.
While studying law, Tom worked nights on the line at Studebaker's
and Oliver's. He was elected and served as prosecutor for St.
Joseph County from 1962 to 1966. He practiced law for his entire
career in the South Bend area. He shared a law office with his
brother Charles for several years, but for most of his career he
enjoyed a solo practice.
During his career he served on the boards of the following
organizations: Sheriff's Merit Board of St. Joseph County, Legal
Aid Society and the Family Children's Center. Tom also provided
legal and other services to the Hispanic community for many years
as part of his volunteer wok with the Saint Vincent DePaul
Society. Tom retired from his law practice for health reasons in
the late 1990s, spending several winters in his beloved Florida
after retirement. After he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he
lived for three years in the Milton Home overlooking the St.
Joseph River in South Bend. In recent years, he had lived in the
Healthwin Alzheimer's Unit receiving wonderful care from very
devoted caregivers.
There will be a memorial service for Tom on Saturday, December
16, in St. Joseph's Church in South Bend, with visitation
starting at 10 a.m., reflections on Tom's life by his family at
11 a.m., and the concelebration of Mass by the Reverends William
Neidhart, C.S.C, and Edward Ruetz at noon.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's
Association of South Bend or to a charity of your choice.
South Bend Tribune 12/8/2006
By JAMES WENSITS, Tribune Political Writer
SOUTH BEND -- Funeral services will be at
noon Dec. 16 in St. Joseph Catholic Church for former St. Joseph
County Prosecutor Thomas J. Roemer, 79, who died Monday at
the Healthwin Specialized Care Facility. Roemer, a long-time
South Bend attorney and the uncle of former U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer,
was elected prosecutor in 1962, winning in a landslide over
then-Democratic incumbent Patrick Brennan. Roemer served just one
term before endorsing attorney David Weisman, then a deputy
prosecutor, for the Republican nomination for prosecutor in 1966.
At the time, Roemer said he had promised to bring integrity and
efficient administration to the office. "I believe I have
carried out the trust placed in me by the citizens of this county
four years ago," Roemer stated. Philip C. Potts, a South
Bend attorney who also served as a deputy prosecutor under
Roemer, recalled their long friendship.
"We used to fish together," Potts
remembered. "He was good company." Potts recalled that
Roemer was also a marvelous athlete, skilled in playing
basketball, baseball and softball and also "a good,
all-around guy." "Tom was as gentle a person as
you could find," Potts said. "He tried to be fair to
everyone." Potts praised Roemer's skills as prosecutor.
"He did a marvelous job," Potts recalled. "He had
excellent judgment."
In his later years, Tom Roemer resided at
the Milton Home, an assisted-living facility on East Marion
Street in downtown South Bend, but moved to the Alzheimer's Unit
at the Healthwin Specialized Care Facility when the effects of
that disease began to take their toll. "He was deeply
religious, but he never wore his faith on his sleeve," said
Roemer's brother, James. "Tom was not an evangelizer."
James Roemer, father of the former 3rd
District congressman, wrote lovingly about his brother and the
deleterious effect of Alzheimer's disease in columns published in
The Tribune. "His Alzheimer's was diagnosed seven years
ago," James Roemer wrote of his brother in 2005.
"Sometimes he can remember that he has five kids and can
recite all their names. Other times, he is completely blank on
everything that happened in the past. This memory slide goes
downhill slowly but surely."
Tim Roemer said Thursday that his uncle's
reputation helped propel him into office when he ran in 1990.
"I got a lot of Republican and independent votes because
they voted for Tom and respected the job he did," the former
congressman recalled.