The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-12-06
Tom McGrath Death of Real Out Easter Who Moved Away RecallS
 Events of
 Long Ago.
By THE OUT EASTER

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 The Out Easter forgets. just like others of the human race seem to do from time to time. Our mind is not 50 keen as 1t used to be when we first went to work in the factory ct the old bun wheel: we are not 50 alert to situations aS we were then, prob- ably because we have inhaled and swallowed most Of the sickening and killing dust that comes to one 50 long engaged in the same old and tifesCtiAe trade; our cloth- es are filled with the same tiAu- seating od0r we get ell day ih the dingy and noisy room in which we are employed: our yiesh Is chockful of little red biotches into which these particles of the buff wheel have pefmeated for these many years.
 No wonder then, we grow sick of factory employment, and wish we had never entered the gates so gaily as we did in our boy- hood days, unaware at the time of the life in store for us for 60 many years ahead. We were as gay as the weather then; now we arc old and bent. We stuck where we were, but there were others of our boyhood days who went places and were successful. And for this we extend to them our compliments.
 one of the lot, Thomas Mo. oYath. died c few weeks back, but we didn't know 1t until the other day. And so we must tell you
 about him, even if we are little bit late about it all. The Tom McQfath we refer to is the young man who moved to Hartford and had been identified with the In. tefnai revenue dept. of the Fed eral government for the past 2S years. Tom was real Out Eas- ter; he was born right out here at the corner of East and William St, property for years owned by his good parents, the late Mir. and Mrs. John 2. Mc0rath.
 Like every boy of 70 years ago, Tom thought 1t smart to get Q job in one of the shops" as the people called them then. He hooked up with the Clock Com pany, and worked there for a few years. Then the thought came to him of future years, and what factory life would mean to him; he gave up the job, studied ac- counting, improved his education by attendance at private schools, went to business college, and when he was ready for new employ ment, he was well adapted for 6 higher place in life. And so one day, he landed with the govern- ment. He had to move to Hart ford. And there he was for Q long period of years, wherein he met thousands of income tax payers, and hundreds of whom relied on the information and data supplied them by our waterbury Tom" He made of his position study, and to do this, he denied himself the comforts of Q little bit of night life, and Sunday ainuse- ment Extra time was given over to bettering his education, and improving details in connection with his position. He wanted to succeed. and was bound he would.
 And he did.
 Ask anyone who had business with him, during his long reign in the collectors office. He was . bureau of information and guide. No one seemed to know the intri- cate parts of ( proper return to the government of the actual amout due better than Tom Me- 0rath. Whatever knowledge he possessed was ct your command.
 But when . waterbury man sought data, that was the time Tom was on his feet. No matter how busy, or what was planned ahead, Tom Mc0rath gave time and energy to the wants of the Waterbury taxpayer; yes, of course he was paid for 1t, and well, too, but what he did 90 many times to accommodate the people of this city and other places was in many instances no part or obli- gation of his particular duties. The best proof of his loyalty to Waterbury citizens in this respect is the statement of the people themselves. Thy said this to thousands; they said 1t to us.
 So you see, while Tom Mc0rath and the rest of us romped the highways and by.ways of the East End in our young days, wild in Q way, and ignorant of the life ahead of Us, he, and only he, of c dozen of us, actually realized what an education would mean for later years. and jumped ct the oportunity when 1t presented itself. We all went into the shop" and there we are still, probably to be until our dying day.
 The success and improved line of thought that Tom Mc0rath ob- tained came primarily through mind that looked Into the future. With tho rest of Us, we were too dull to think. We could grasp Toms superior reasoning from his boyhood school days at the Welton street school. There, he seemed to 90 ahead of all of us. The teachers seemed to like the "little red.headed Tom" better than they did the rest of Us, for we seemed to be bold, and rather fresh, until they tanned Us most forcibly at times. Even then, as we have outlined. Tom, was more studious, and seemed to know what 1t all meant.
 Tom Mc0rath descended from the Mc0raths of Out East; the old homestead of the grandpar- ents was only a few houses west of his home. And Tom, like ell of us, ate and were well looked after in our young days by the kind- hearted aunts; we. were never al- lowed to leave around there hun- gry.
 whether one likes a McCrath or not, 1t can always be said that 6 taaa ssa., SsF Ah.mA x.a ..AA a~~.. ~m .. ~k k.s~