{"id":16255,"date":"2010-12-13T20:37:33","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T02:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=16255"},"modified":"2010-12-14T10:30:04","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T16:30:04","slug":"rip-tom-conlon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=16255","title":{"rendered":"RIP Tom Conlon"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a big week for awful news.<\/p>\n

Tom Conlon – for many years, the only elected Republican official in any capacity in Ramsey County – died on Sunday:<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Police were called to the 2100 block of Berkeley Avenue, where Conlon lived, about 5:55 a.m. Sunday.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A neighbor and a snow plow driver saw Conlon shoveling out his car in front of his home about 5 a.m., said St. Paul police spokesman Andy Skoogman.<\/p>\n

“It appears that he got into his car and likely had some type of medical issue,” Skoogman said. Conlon’s car was found crashed into a snow bank on the block.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He’d been teaching at Metro State, and mounted a brief run for State Auditor earlier this year.<\/p>\n

These memorial pieces I write are usually somewhat detached, third-person things.\u00a0 Not so with Tom.\u00a0 This time it’s personal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tom was a sharp-as-nails politician – can any other kind get elected as a Republican in Saint Paul?\u00a0\u00a0 He was a genuine, nice guy in person.\u00a0 His low-key manner disarmed you, – he was a sharp, savvy guy who, above all, exuded love for his community.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A graduate of Harding High School, he served a hitch\u00a0in the United States Marine Corps’ 11th Marine Regiment.\u00a0 Which led to the one big incongruity in Conlon, from what I saw.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

No, it wasn’t incongruous that he served his country with pride, of course – that fit perfectly.\u00a0 But I don’t imagine\u00a0that anyone could ever imagine Conlon, even the 18 year old version of him, making a “war face”.\u00a0 The guy always had a smile for everyone.\u00a0 Even during the most byzantine school board debates with his most whackdoodle colleagues, Tom kept not only his cool, but his smile.\u00a0 Or one of them.\u00a0 He had a bunch; the broad “glad to meet you” smile, even if you’d met him a hundred times; the wry “there you go again” smile that’d pop\u00a0 up when one of his colleagues was expounding, and more.<\/p>\n

Tom was a\u00a0 very talented photographer – I had him penciled in to do my daughter’s senior pictures.<\/p>\n

I last talked with Tom three weeks ago, at a CD4 fundraiser.\u00a0 He’d been eyeing running for School Board.\u00a0 The SPPS desperately needed him back on the board.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Rest in peace, Tom Conlon.\u00a0 This city is a worse place for your passing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a big week for awful news. Tom Conlon – for many years, the only elected Republican official in any capacity in Ramsey County – died on Sunday: Police were called to the 2100 block of Berkeley Avenue, where Conlon lived, about 5:55 a.m. Sunday. A neighbor and a snow plow driver saw Conlon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-memoriam","category-st-paul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16255"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16258,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16255\/revisions\/16258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}