Thomas D. Ginefra, Sr. was born in Orange, NJ, on June 2, 1925. His parents were Italian
immigrants from Rome, hoping to find life and liberty in the pursuit of happiness in
America. Born a twin, his twin brother died at the age of eight months old. Tom grew up
with three brothers and one sister.
Always an eager and avid reader, he loved to write short stories as a child. He started
writing poetry in high school. He sold newspapers at the age of five years old on Main St.
in his hometown of Orange, NJ. Tom sold the newspapers for three cents each and made
a penny profit on each one. From 1928 to 1941 there was a severe economic depression
that resulted in Tom working at various jobs after school to help his parents meet their
daily expenses. At twelve years old he started to caddy at a golf course. At the age of
fifteen he was promoted to Caddy Master overseeing 300 caddies. At seventeen he
became an assistant to a golf pro (professional golf teacher).
After seeing a movie called “Pride Of The Marines”, Tom was inspired to become a
marine. World war II had begun and in his spirit of patriotism he enlisted in the Marine
Corps, after he graduated from high school. Little did he know that the minimum height
requirement to join the Marine Corps was 68”. Being 64 ½” tall, the Marine Corp rejected
him, flat out. Tom’s mother always told him, “Never be pitied, always be envied”. With
determination, doggedly he tried to enlist eight more times with the same result. On the
tenth time, as the clerk went to get an application for the next enlistee, Tom wrote 68” in
the height slot on his own application and quickly spun it back around. The busy clerk
must have thought he had already written in Tom’s height. He handed Tom the application
and told him to proceed to the next room. Days later Tom found himself in Paris Island
boot camp off the coast of South Carolina. Three months later, after overcoming many
obstacles due to the height difference between himself and his other platoon members, he
was made a PFC, Private First Class at the recommendation of his drill instructor.
Eighteen months later, he was promoted to sergeant and after two years he became a
weather forecaster. In 1945 he wrote his first military poem called ”Of Men” based on the
battle of Iwo Jima. The Marine Corps published this poem, telling him they felt it was the
finest expression of poetry of World War II.
The war had ended and Tom was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, after three
years of service. He attended Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, with a goal of becoming a
lawyer. After two and a half years at college, as a dean’s list student, he had to quit
because his father became ill. Tom went to work full-time to pay the mortgage. Tom, with a
gift of being a great salesman, held various sales positions ranging from selling
encyclopedias to life insurance. He was ultimately employed by Sears Roebuck for thirty
years as their top-notch appliance salesman.
In 1953, at twenty-eight, he married his first girlfriend. Over the next ten years he and his
wife, the love of his life, experienced six pregnancies. Unfortunately two of the babies did
not live for more than two days. Tom and his wife, Marie, were blessed with four healthy
children, two girls and twin boys. From time to time Tom wrote beautiful poetry for his wife.
Sadly, Marie passed away after ten years of marriage, leaving Tom as a single father with
an eight-week old daughter, three-year-old twin sons and a 7 year-old daughter. With the
help of his wife’s mother, he raised his four children. He retired from Sears at the age of
62 and basked in the love and warmth of his eleven grandchildren who affectionately
called him “PupPup”.
Tom moved to Brick, NJ and appreciated the preciousness of time and family and
grandchildren. He never lost his affinity of reading and writing poetry and prose. Even in
his eighties, Tom continued to write meaningful poems that are posted on the website
owned by his two daughters, who named their company in memory of their mother, Marie
Adele.
Thomas D. Ginefra, Sr. died on August 7, 2009, at the age of 84 years old. He is
remembered as a kind, fun, intelligent, and generous man who, each and every day,
made his family his number one priority.
immigrants from Rome, hoping to find life and liberty in the pursuit of happiness in
America. Born a twin, his twin brother died at the age of eight months old. Tom grew up
with three brothers and one sister.
Always an eager and avid reader, he loved to write short stories as a child. He started
writing poetry in high school. He sold newspapers at the age of five years old on Main St.
in his hometown of Orange, NJ. Tom sold the newspapers for three cents each and made
a penny profit on each one. From 1928 to 1941 there was a severe economic depression
that resulted in Tom working at various jobs after school to help his parents meet their
daily expenses. At twelve years old he started to caddy at a golf course. At the age of
fifteen he was promoted to Caddy Master overseeing 300 caddies. At seventeen he
became an assistant to a golf pro (professional golf teacher).
After seeing a movie called “Pride Of The Marines”, Tom was inspired to become a
marine. World war II had begun and in his spirit of patriotism he enlisted in the Marine
Corps, after he graduated from high school. Little did he know that the minimum height
requirement to join the Marine Corps was 68”. Being 64 ½” tall, the Marine Corp rejected
him, flat out. Tom’s mother always told him, “Never be pitied, always be envied”. With
determination, doggedly he tried to enlist eight more times with the same result. On the
tenth time, as the clerk went to get an application for the next enlistee, Tom wrote 68” in
the height slot on his own application and quickly spun it back around. The busy clerk
must have thought he had already written in Tom’s height. He handed Tom the application
and told him to proceed to the next room. Days later Tom found himself in Paris Island
boot camp off the coast of South Carolina. Three months later, after overcoming many
obstacles due to the height difference between himself and his other platoon members, he
was made a PFC, Private First Class at the recommendation of his drill instructor.
Eighteen months later, he was promoted to sergeant and after two years he became a
weather forecaster. In 1945 he wrote his first military poem called ”Of Men” based on the
battle of Iwo Jima. The Marine Corps published this poem, telling him they felt it was the
finest expression of poetry of World War II.
The war had ended and Tom was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946, after three
years of service. He attended Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, with a goal of becoming a
lawyer. After two and a half years at college, as a dean’s list student, he had to quit
because his father became ill. Tom went to work full-time to pay the mortgage. Tom, with a
gift of being a great salesman, held various sales positions ranging from selling
encyclopedias to life insurance. He was ultimately employed by Sears Roebuck for thirty
years as their top-notch appliance salesman.
In 1953, at twenty-eight, he married his first girlfriend. Over the next ten years he and his
wife, the love of his life, experienced six pregnancies. Unfortunately two of the babies did
not live for more than two days. Tom and his wife, Marie, were blessed with four healthy
children, two girls and twin boys. From time to time Tom wrote beautiful poetry for his wife.
Sadly, Marie passed away after ten years of marriage, leaving Tom as a single father with
an eight-week old daughter, three-year-old twin sons and a 7 year-old daughter. With the
help of his wife’s mother, he raised his four children. He retired from Sears at the age of
62 and basked in the love and warmth of his eleven grandchildren who affectionately
called him “PupPup”.
Tom moved to Brick, NJ and appreciated the preciousness of time and family and
grandchildren. He never lost his affinity of reading and writing poetry and prose. Even in
his eighties, Tom continued to write meaningful poems that are posted on the website
owned by his two daughters, who named their company in memory of their mother, Marie
Adele.
Thomas D. Ginefra, Sr. died on August 7, 2009, at the age of 84 years old. He is
remembered as a kind, fun, intelligent, and generous man who, each and every day,
made his family his number one priority.
| Thomas D. Ginefra, Sr. |
| 1945 |
| 2000 |
