Thomas H. Sjöberg

Tom Sjoberg was born on January 22, 1955 at Elmhurst Hospital to father Henri, a member of FDNY, and mother Hilda, a homemaker.  He was raised in Rosedale, NY where he attended PS 195 and Springfield Gardens High School before getting his associates degree at Queensborough College. While attending school and during summer breaks, he would join his cousins and friends in providing janitorial services for St. Clare’s school and St. Pius X school.  While studying for his degree at Queensborough, he worked as a loss prevention agent at S. Klein Department Store in Green Acres Mall, calling himself one of “Klein’s Finds”.  During his shift one day he chatted up the quiet girl working behind the cashier, Virginia, near the entrance of the store.  Their first date was New Years Eve 1974, and she would eventually become his wife on April 8th, 1978.  In 1977, Tom found a new job working for Sid Harvey’s, an HVAC company in Valley Stream, NY.  He would remain and grow with the company for the next 47 years, going from manufacturing, to sales, to management and beyond until his retirement in August 2024.

Tom had diverse hobbies.  When he was in his teens, he worked hard to buy a Plymouth Satellite from his father that he named ‘Brown Sugar’ and devoted multiple paychecks to outfitting it with Cragar rims and red wheel well lights.  He loved to go camping in the Catskills, first with his father when he was young, and then as the father himself with his kids.  His absolute favorite place to camp was North/South Lake Campground in Haines Falls, New York and even in his later years he still talked about making it up to North Point at the top of the campground with his father and carving their initials in a rock.  He also loved to hunt, though he never got anything.  Something about the quiet solitude of walking through the woods and observing his surroundings was very peaceful for him.  In his later years, he enjoyed traveling with his family, going to places such as Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, California, Texas, Mexico, Washington, the Caribbean, Scotland, Ireland, and Great Britain.  He also loved making fires in his firepit.  He was often seen scavenging broken wooden pallets to use as firewood, and many fires were built to memorialize friends and family that had passed.

Tom and his wife had three children.  His first and namesake, Tommy, was born in 1981.  He had another son, Danny, in 1984 and his daughter Sarah was born in 1988.  Tom was a natural when it came to fatherhood, among other activities he made sure to take his children to playgrounds every weekend – there had to be at least 15-20 different playground on rotation.  In many of the photos taken of him with his kids, he can be seen holding them up proudly. He was supportive of his children whenever needed and was present for every school event, whether sports, academic, or theatrical.  He stood in downpours to support his sons’ football games (even though he didn’t understand football), drove probably hundreds of miles in total to see his sons’ wrestling matches, cheered proudly for his daughter at her drama and musical performances, and all of their graduation and awards ceremonies.  He made the trek into Manhattan on several occasions to see both his sons graduate from the New York City Police Academy and years later receive their promotions.  He flew halfway across the country to Nebraska to visit his daughter and see and praise her successes in finance. 

His latest and greatest accomplishment was becoming a grandfather.  Nothing made him happier than holding and spending time with his granddaughters, Ella and Anna.  Every single photo taken of him with his granddaughters shows him with the biggest, beaming smile.  His happiest moments with them involved making Jiffy-Pop popcorn for them on the stovetop, dancing with them, swinging glowsticks, and attending their soccer and softball games and dance recitals to cheer them on.  He talked about the simple pleasures of picking them up from school, with Anna sneaking up on him and surprising him each day; and about going out for pizza, ice cream, or Arby’s – whatever they wanted he was in.

Tom leaves behind a large legacy.  He is survived by his wife, Virginia, his children Tommy, Danny, and Sarah, his daughter-in-law Noelle, his honorary son-in-law Carter, his granddaughters Ella and Anna, his large extended family, his friends, whom number too many to count, and the people of Sid Harvey Industries, with whom he spent 47 years and he considered his second family.  For a man that never joined law enforcement, he still bled Blue and was known to stop and chat with any police officers he encountered.  He imparted his love for Police to his sons, which resulted in them joining the NYPD.  Tom also passed on his attitude that people shouldn’t take life too seriously, and to stop and laugh a little.  Even in his senior years he had a light-hearted approach to life and used his Facebook page to get laughs whenever he could.

Tom Sjoberg left this Earth on April 17th, 2025, peacefully, on his own terms, with family at his side.  He is back with his parents, including his father whom he hasn’t seen in 50 years.  On the evening of his departure, his family set a fire in his firepit in his honor, as was his custom for others.  Tom is already sorely missed by all who knew him, but Heaven has gotten a little brighter.  He’ll be looking down on everyone, and telling any angels in his vicinity about how proud he is of his family.