Thomas Frederick Birge

1954 - 2025

Thomas F. Birge passed away at his home in Anchorage, Alaska on September 24, 2025. As a child Tom was “free range,” with an enormous territorial span. He held a deep love for the vastness and beauty of Alaska. Wherever he lived and traveled, Tom had a powerful connection with the land and water. He learned to swim as a toddler in summers on Highland Lake in Connecticut. As a kid, he knew the forests, lakes, and ski slopes of the Adirondacks, and he trapped in the Moose River. One of Tom’s oldest friends once said, “as long as I’ve known him, Tom has been preparing to live in the 17th Century.”

Tom was a graduate of Eisenhower College in Seneca Falls, New York. At various times his life took him across the country from coast to coast. Utterly uninterested in pomp or ceremony, he was deeply interested in all the kinds of things that had improved and sustained people throughout time: philosophy, history, tools, cooking, books, woodcraft, hunting, and building.

Shards of memories from Tom come to mind: his delight in a raccoon who nestled against him outside his tent one night; a photo of his ruddy face in a freezing grimace, crazy hair, peering out from a tiny rickety shack on a snowy hunt; Tom in high school, wearing Dad’s hand-sewn 1940's evening tailcoat with a regular white shirt, no waistcoat; Tom in his 20's, with a large grin and a shovel over his shoulder ready to dig his classic International Scout out of the mud. Going with Tom for a late night out on the infamous Oneida County “Bar-Muda Triangle.” Visiting Gettysburg and to Fort Griswold in Connecticut as little kids. On a drive and through the tunnel to Whittier, Tom rolling down the window to whoop and hear the echo.

Tom made enduring friendships. He was loved and will be missed. He is survived by his sister Marian Birge, his brother Stuart Birge, and his niece and nephew Hailey and Nathan Birge. A memorial will be announced.

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