Banks, Thomas Wayne 65, passed away peacefully at home in Wellesley, MA on April 13, 2020 surrounded by his loving family after an 8 year battle with Early Onset Alzheimers. He is survived by his devoted wife, Chris Anne Stipetic Banks, his children Connor (24), Kyle (23) and Kelly (19) Banks. He is also survived by his sisters Pam Banks Beyseigel (Karl) of Kalamazoo, sister Ann Kersten of Kansas as well as 8 nieces and nephews.
Tom, formerly of Battle Creek Michigan, attended Michigan State University where he graduated with a BS in Chemical Engineering. Upon graduation he was hired at the Dupont Chemical company where he worked for 5 years at the Flint, MI plant as a project engineer. While at Dupont he attended Oakland University in MI part time where he received his MBA. He then pursued a law degree from John Marshall Law School of Chicago, focusing on patent law, where he received his JD. Upon graduating, he was hired at the Intellectual Property Law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner in Washington, D.C where he worked for over 25 years, retiring as a partner with the Firm. Tom began his career at Finnegan in the D.C. office where he met his beloved Chris Anne. After Tom made Partner they were invited to help open an office for the Firm in Palo Alto, CA where they moved their young family. Based upon that success, Tom was asked to open an office as the Managing Partner for Finnegan in Cambridge, MA. The family settled in Wellesley, MA in 2002. Tom worked predominantly as a patent litigator in the Biotech arena and continued in his role as Managing Partner, where the Firm’s offices had moved to the Seaport district of Boston until his retirement in April of 2012.
Tom was a great lawyer, father, partner and friend. His sense of humor, wit and intelligence will long be remembered, along with his passion for baseball, basketball, beer, and music. Tom loved music and was forever searching out new artists. A big part of Tom and Chris Anne’s social activity included attending small live music venues throughout Boston, supporting established and upcoming musicians alike. He loved coaching his children in little league and basketball, forever cementing their love for basketball and particularly the Celtics and MSU Spartans. His passion for baseball was like no other. Every year he would wait with anticipation for the baseball guide that came out each Spring with all of the stats for each player from the prior year. He could recite the most important games, players and outcomes of any World Series going back to the 1940’s and beyond. Alzheimers robbed him of these precious memories of his favorite game, one of the many hardships of the disease. In his retirement, he and a couple of friends made several trips to baseball parks all over the country. He was in heaven; baseball, beer and good friends.
Tom was surrounded with good friends in a community like no other. In the years since he was diagnosed, the abundance of help for him and his family has been constant. The love, kindness and selfless support can never be measured or repaid. A celebration of Tom’s life will be take place in the next few months. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Alzheimers Association, 309 Waverley Oaks Rd. Waltham, MA 02452.