Hello all,
I am in writing this in respect to my beloved father, Thomas M. McAuliffe, known here as Dogbreath2U, who passed away this past Friday night at the age of 62.
My father was born in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in the nearby charming suburb of Overland Park, Kansas. He attended Rockhurst High School where he played for nearly every sports team, including football, track and baseball.
After receiving his PhD in Clinical Psychology from St Louis University and meeting my mother, Patricia FitzGerald, they traveled around the country together, chasing clinical internships and job prospects.
Eventually, they ended up back in Connecticut, where my mother had grown up and spent most of her life outside of her PhD. He started working at Newington Children Hospital before joining CREC in East Hartford as a Psychologist, where he helped children with developmental and emotional disabilities for over twenty years. Here, my dad's love affair with UConn's Men Basketball began. It didn't take long for me to catch the same bug he had.
In 2004, when I was in 5th grade, my teacher had us fill out NCAA basketball brackets.
I had made brackets for both the men and women, and under the influence of my father, had the men and women taking it all. And, they did. That year we went to the celebration parade together.
As I grew older, I understood more and more the sense of place the UConn basketball had created for my father. After a long day of work, I'd find my dad typing away on a message board or excitedly live-chatting during a game. He became involved with the community service aspect of the site too, helping to raise money in 2012 for Jim Calhoun retirement medical gift. He derived such joy from being a part of this vibrant basketball community. He was a brilliant man with a brilliant heart.
Tom is survived by my wonderful mother, Patricia FitzGerald, my loving brother, Sean McAuliffe, as well as his mother, Mildred McAuliffe.
A celebration of Tom’s life will be held Tuesday June 20 at 11am in the Mulryan Funeral Home, 725 Hebron Ave., Glastonbury. Friends may call at the funeral home on Monday June 19 from 4-7pm. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the CT. Children’s Medical Center Foundation, 12 Charter Oak Place, Hartford, CT. 06106. For online condolences please visit
www.mulryanfh.com.
Should any of you wish to get in contact with me, you can email me at ktmc357(at)gmail.com.
Thank you all for creating a community my dad was always so fond of.
Best wishes,
Kate McAuliffe
