Thomas William Easton
May 8, 1940-March 12, 1989
Tom Easton was born in Chicago, Illinois. He skated out of several clubs in his youth, including the Chicago Figure Skating Club, South Side Ice Club of Chicago and Genesee Figure Skating Club. He first competed at the Midwestern Championships in 1958 and in the years that followed, won medals in ice dance at the Eastern and North Atlantic Championships. He passed his Gold Dance test in 1964 and competed in the Gold Dance event at the U.S. Championships in 1965 and 1966, with Wilma Piper. He won the Niagara Invitational Gold Dance title three times, with two different partners. After his competitive career ended, Tom studied at Knox College. He later moved to California and became very active behind-the-scenes in the sport, serving as a high-level judge, club president and USFSA Committee member. He was disowned by his family because he was gay. He passed away on March 12, 1989 at the age of fifty-one.
Tom's obituary from "Skating" magazine: "Thomas Easton passed away March 12 following a lengthy illness. He was 51. Born and raised in Chicago, Easton graduated from Rochester School of Medicine with a doctorate in biochemistry. He was a National dance competitor and also competed in singles. In 1967, he joined the Los Angeles FSC and served as its President from 1972 to 1974. He was very active in the USFSA and was an International Dance Judge, a National Figure and Dance Judge, Pacific Sectional Vice Chairman for Dance, and members of the Competitions, Dance and Judges Committees and the Judges Education and Training Sub-Committee."
*Source for inclusion: National AIDS Memorial, The Names Project Memorial Quilt
