“Courage is grace under pressure.” Ernest Hemingway may have said it best, but our own Delaware City Manager Thomas Homan has lived it best. This profoundly quiet and gracious leader now leaves the helm of our Delaware city government, but his imprint upon our beloved community will remain, unabated.
Over recent weeks, I have asked a wide spectrum of my neighbors and colleagues to give me one word or phrase that best summarizes Tom Homan for them. A whirlwind of duplicated observations spilled forth: “forward thinking; peacemaker; he is the very model of a modern major manager; stalwart; calm and competent Covid care-taker; steady hand on the helm in the midst of our many storms; our gentle guide through huge changes and otherwise overwhelming challenges; everywhere at once, it seemed; consummate professional; deep faith and family values; rebirth of downtown Delaware; promising future ahead.”
As I have so often said to our OWU graduates over the years, I now say to Thomas Homan: Tom, we love you. We honor you. We thank God for you. Blessed be you.
Jon R. Powers
Delaware
