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Minneapolis North High School


North High School
Class of 1966

 


Minneapolis North High School
Thomas Philip Courolle

Thomas Philip Courolle Passed Away - 12/24/02
Thomas Philip Courolle Passed Away - 12/24/02

Thomas Philip Coursolle

  
Coursolle, Thomas - Philip Beloved Father, Son & Brother Age 54, of St. Paul, died unexpectedly Dec. 24, 2002. Tom was a gifted, creative and talented man. He was a principle engineer at Rosemount, Inc., with several patents to his credit. He was an excellent keyboard artist & vocalist with local musical groups & very active within his Native American Community. He was a role model of kindness, compassion and mercy. We already miss him very much. Survivors are: daughter, Abbi; son, Daniel (Buzz) & their mother, Maureen Murphy; parents, Philip & Melba; sisters, Annette Webb and Suzi Barlow; nephews, Tad and Tim Hoverstad; niece, Tanya Anderson; great-nieces, Tara Hoverstad and Jillian Anderson. Survivors also include his adopted brother and family, Michael & Lois Weir, Michaela & Gavin Weir and Larina & Jack DeWalt. Service Monday, 11AM THE ALBIN CHAPEL, 2200 Nicollet Av. S. Visitation with traditional drumming Sunday 3-6PM. Memorial preferred to Sinte Gleska University, PO Box 490, Rosebud, SD 57570, Native American Math & Science Educational Leadership Program (NAMSEL). Albin Chapel-Minneapolis Ralph, Jim & Dan Albinson 612-871-1418.

Published in Pioneer Press from December 27 to December 28, 2002

Biography
Thomas Philip Courolle 

Last Update

4/9/16 


  

Status

 Passed Away 12/24/02

Location

Email

 

Personal Website

Business Website

Photo Website

Birthday

Oct. 14, 1948

Spouse/Partner

Married Aug 24 1979 to Maureen Ethel Murphy 

Children

Employer

He was a principle engineer at Rosemount, Inc.

Facebook

Biography

He was an excellent keyboard artist & vocalist with local musical groups & very active within his Native American Community.

Thomas Philip Coursolle
Thomas Philip Coursolle
Birth:  Oct. 14, 1948
Hennepin County
Minnesota, USA
Death:  Dec. 24, 2002
Saint Paul
Ramsey County
Minnesota, USA

"Everything Can Change In The Blink Of an Eye"
Married Aug 24 1979 to Maureen Ethel Murphy in Ramsey County MN 
 
Family links: 
 Parents:
  Philip Edward Coursolle (1915 - 2003)
  Melba Jeanette Johnson Coursolle (1917 - 2009)
 
Burial:
Saint Johns Cemetery 
Little Canada
Ramsey County
Minnesota, USA

     Thomas Coursolle

Guest Book
 
 

 

February 21, 2003
X had marked time in the limestone ledge since the Paleozoic seas covered the land. Time, to an atom locked in a rock, does not pass.
The break came when a bur-oak root nosed down a crack and began prying and sucking. In the flash of a century the rock decayed, and X was pulled out and up into the world of living things. He helped build a flower, which became an acorn, which fattened a deer, which fed an Indian, all in a single year.

From his berth in the Indian's bones, X joined again in chase and flight, feast and famine, hope and fear. He felt these things as changes in the little chemical pushes and pulls that tug timelessly at every atom. When the Indian took his leave of the prairie, X moldered briefly underground, only to embark on a second trip through the bloodstream of the land.

This time it was a rootlet of bluestem that sucked him up and lodged him in a leaf that rode the green billows of the prairie June, sharing the common task of hoarding sunlight. To this leaf also fell an uncommon task: flicking shadows across a plover's eggs. The ecstatic plover, hovering overhead, poured praises on something perfect: perhaps the eggs, perhaps the shadows, or perhaps the haze of pink phlox that lay on the prairie.

When the departing plovers set wing for the Argentine, all the bluestems waved farewell with tall new tassels. When the first geese came out of the north and all the bluestems glowed wine-red, a forehanded deer-mouse cut the leaf in which X lay, and buried it in an underground nest, as if to hide a bit of Indian summer from the thieving frosts. But a fox detained the mouse, molds and fungi took the nest apart, and X lay in the soil again, foot-loose and fancy-free.

Next he entered a tuft of side-oats grama, a buffalo chip, and again the soil. Next a spiderwort, a rabbit, and an owl. Thence a tuft of sporobolus.

All routines come to an end. This one ended with a prairie fire, which reduced the prairie plants to smoke, gas, and ashes. Phosphorus and potash atoms stayed in the ash, but the nitrogen atoms were gone with the wind. A spectator might at this point, have predicted an early end of the biotic drama, for with fires exhausting the nitrogen, the soil might well have lost its plants and blown away.

But the prairie had two string to its bow. Fires thinned its grasses, but they thickened its stand of leguminous herbs: prairie clover, bush clover, wild bean, vetch, lead-plant, trefoil, and "Baptisia," each carrying its own bacteria housed in nodules on its rootlets. Each nodule pumped nitrogen out of the air into the plant, and then ultimately into the soil. Thus the prairie savings bank took in more nitrogen from its legumes than it paid out to its fires. That the prairie is rich is know to the humblest deer-mouse; why the prairie is rich is a question seldom asked in all the still lapse of ages.

Between each of its excursions through the biota, X lay in the soil and was carried by the rains, inch by inch downhill. Living plants retarded the wash by impounding atoms; dead plants by locking them to their decayed tissues. Animals ate the plants and carried them briefly uphill or downhill, depending on whether they died or defecated higher or lower than they fed. No animal was aware that the altitude of his death was more important than his manner of dying. Thus a fox caught a gopher in a meadow, carrying X uphill to his bed on the brow of a ledge, where an eagle laid him low. The dying fox sensed the end of his chapter in foxdom, but not the new beginning in the odyssey of an atom.

An Indian eventually inherited the eagle's plumes, and with them propitiated the Fates, whom he assumed had a special interest in Indians. It did not occur to him that they might be busy casting dice against gravity; that mice and men, soils and songs, might be merely ways to retard the march of atoms to the sea.

One year, while X lay in a cottonwood by the river, he was eaten by a beaver, an animal that always feeds higher than he dies. The beaver starved when his pond dried up during a bitter frost. X rode the carcass down the spring freshet, losing more altitude each hour than heretofore in a century. He ended up in the silt of a backwater bayou, where he fed a crayfish, a coon, and then an Indian, who laid him down to his last sleep in a mound on the river bank. One spring an oxbow caved the bank, and after one short week of freshet X lay again in his ancient prison, the sea.

An atom at large in the biota is too free to know freedom; an atom back in the sea has forgotten it. For every atom lost to the sea, the prairie pulls another out of the decaying rocks. The only certain truth is that its creatures must suck hard, live fast, and die often, lest its losses exceed its gains.

Aldo Leopold
~ 
david reker,
bloomington, Minnesota
 
February 21, 2003
Thanks for making this world a better place to live.The earth would be much better if we had more people like you.
~ 
CONNIE clawson,
MONYICELLO, Minnesota
 
February 20, 2003
I know we already signed your guest book, but we miss you so much and we think about you every day. You will never be forgotten.
Love Lois and Michael and the kids.
~ 
Lois and Michael, Gavin and Michaela, Jack and Larina and (baby) Weir and DeWalt,
minneapolis, Minnesota
 
January 09, 2003
Tom was many things to many different people; son, father, helper, friend. What I miss most about him is not what he did, but who he was.....I miss him simply because he was Tom.
~ 
rick moldenhauer,
ELLSWORTH, Wisconsin
January 08, 2003
WE ALL ENTER THIS WORLD IN THE SAME WAY, AND ARE ABANDONED, ABUSED, ABIDED OR CHERISHED. SOME DARE TO CHALLENGE; SOME RISE IN STRIFE; A LOT SUCCUMB TO A COWARD'S PATH; AND THEN THERE ARE A CHOSEN FEW WHO MANAGE TO ACCOMPLISH IN THEIR LIVES A BLESSED HARMONY. TO GATHER IN EVERYONE TO BE BROTHER, SISTER, FRIEND, AND PARTNER ON LIFE'S ROUTE; TO LIVE IN MANY LEVELS AND TO BE IN ACCORD WITH ALL.
TOM EXITED THIS WORLD LEAVING IT A BETTER PLACE FOR HIS HAVING BEEN HERE.

GOD BLESS HIM!

AUNT "BUNNY" (YVONNE DECKER)
HIS FATHER'S SISTER
~ 
annette webb,
mpls, Minnesota

January 08, 2003
I worked with Tom professionally for many years. I will greatly miss him. My sympathies to Tom's family.
~ 
John DeCramer,
Marshall, Minnesota
January 06, 2003
Tom was such a good friend, he helped in so many ways and would never accept more then a thank you for acknowlegement. My life was made richer from his friendship as were many others. The type of person Tom was is the model that so many of us aspire to be. Tom was well loved and will be missed by many.
~ 
Sandra Turpin,
Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota
 
January 03, 2003
OUR SON

TOM WAS OUR YOUNGEST & ONLY SON. HE WAS THE JOY OF OUR LIVES WHEN GOD GAVE HIME TO US. WE ALMOST LOST TOM WHEN HE HAD ENCEPHALITIS AT AGE FIVE. HE SURVIVED & BECAME A WONDERFUL MAN WITH A BIG, TENDER HEART. HE ACCOMPLISHED MOST EVERYTHING HE PUT HIS HAND & MIND TO, & WITH MAUREEN, THEY DEDICATED THEIR LIVES TO THE WELFARE & UPBRINGING OF THEIR TWO CHILDREN, ABBI & BUZZ. HE LEAVES US ALL WITH BROKEN HEARTS, BUT WE KNOW HE IS IN A BETTER PLACE IN THE COMPANY OF HIS GOD.

MELBA & PHIL COURSOLLE, HIS MOM & DAD
~ 
Annette Webb,
Mpls, Minnesota
January 03, 2003
OUR BROTHER

OUR FAMILY NEVER KNEW THAT SO MANY PEOPLE LOVED OUR BROTHER! WE ONLY KNEW THAT WE DID. STORY AFTER STORY WAS SHARED WITH US ABOUT THE KIND, COMPASSIONATE ACTS HE PERFORMED FOR OTHERS, ALL THE TIME ASKING NOTHING IN RETURN.
WE BELIEVE ALSO THAT A BAND OF ANGELS SWEPT IN & TOOK OVER FOR US IN OUR TIME OF GRIEF. THEY ORCHESTRATED THE SERVICES, VOLUNTEERED ALL THE MUSIC, DESIGNED THE URN FOR HIS CREMATION, DONATED, PREPARED & SERVED A GRAND FEAST & PRESIDED OVER THE SERVICES. THIS INCLUDED THE VISITATION WITH TRADITIONAL DRUMMING CEREMONY, FUNERAL SERVICE & CREMATION SERVICE.
OUR PARENTS WERE CONCERNED BECAUSE THEIR PASTOR DID NOT KNOW TOM. LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT HE CAME WITH HIS OWN... FATHER JIM NOTEBAART, & HIS OWN SPIRITUAL
LEADER, RAY OWEN & HIS OWN SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY/CHURCH, THE PRAIRIE ISLAND DAKOTA NATIVE AMERICAN GROUP.
FROM THE GOSPEL GROUPS, ROCK BANDS, SOLOIST, FRIENDS, RELATIVES & CO-WORKERS WE HAVE BEEN AWAKENED & BLESSED WITH YOUR OVERWHELMING OUTPOURING OF LOVE & SUPPORT. WE ALWAYS REALIZED THAT WE HAD A VERY SPECIAL PERSON AMONG US. A MAN WHO SOMETIMES WENT TO PASS OUT MONEY TO HOMELESS PEOPLE (JUST BECAUSE "HE FELT LIKE IT") & WENT TO THE CEMETERY ONCE A MONTH TO TALK WITH OUR BELOVED DECEASED GRANDMOTHER. YES, HE DANCED TO A DIFFERENT TUNE. BUT, OH WHAT HIS DEATH HAS TAUGHT US ABOUT WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT ABOUT LIVING LIFE.
HE LIVED SIMPLY & PEACEFULLY. WE'VE NEVER SEEN OUR BROTHER ANGRY, SARCASTIC OR MEAN. HE WAS THE ESSENCE OF KINDNESS, GENTLENESS, UNDERSTANDING & FORGIVENESS. WE NOW SEE THESE TRAITS MANIFESTED THROUGH HIS CHILDREN, WHO WERE THE LIGHT OF HIS LIFE. A LIFE CUT SHORT BUT POWERFUL IN IT'S DIVERSITY, CONTRIBUTION & LOVE.
YOU CANNOT IMAGINE HOW ALL OF YOU HAVE HELPED US THROUGH THIS TIME OF MOURNING. HE HAD THE MOST WONDERFUL "SEND OFF" & WE'RE SURE THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN HAVE SAVED HIM A LEAD SPOT IN THEIR HEAVENLY CHORUS. OUR BROTHER'S LIFE ON EARTH WAS MORE CHRISTLIKE THAN MOST PEOPLE WE'VE EVER KNOWN.
GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU FOR ALL YOU'VE SHARED WITH OUR FAMILY.

ANNETTE WEBB & SUZI BARLOW, SISTERS
~ 
Annette Webb,
Mpls, Minnesota

December 31, 2002
I had the priviledge of working
with Tom at Rosemount. He was always
easy to work with. He will be missed
by all who new him.My prayers are with his family & friends at this
time of loss
~ 
Ed Wetterstrom,
Ham Lake, Minnesota
December 30, 2002
DEAR FAMILY, IT IS AN HONOR TO SAY, "HE IS MY COUSIN." THANKS TO ALL OF THE OTHER FAMILIES THAT HE IS A MEMBER OF, WE KNOW HOW WELL LOVED HE IS, AND HOW WELL HE KNEW HOW TO LOVE. HIS YEARS WITH US WERE SHORT, BUT HE FILLED IT WITH SO MUCH MUSIC AND LOVE AND CREATIVITY, AND WAS PART OF SO MANY PEOPLE, THAT IT WAS FULL AND RICH BEYOND WHAT MOST OF US COULD DREAM OF. THANK ALL OF YOU FOR SHARING THE MUSIC AND THE LOVE WITH US. OUR LOSS LEAVES AN EMPTY SPACE THAT WILL BE FILLED WITH MEMORIES OF THE GOOD TIMES AND BLESSINGS FROM ALL THE LOVE HE LEFT BEHIND. GOOD BYE, FOR NOW,TOMMY, THANKS FOR SHARING SOME OF YOUR LIFE WITH ME. DIANE MCGEE, COUSIN FROM THE COURSOLLE SIDE.
~ 
DIANE MCGEE,
ST PAUL

December 29, 2002
I met Tom on several occasions and was performing on each one. He struck me as someone who genuinely liked people. He even let me play his keyboards several times and he was surprised when I thanked him. That's the person I'll remember; The person who just gave and didn't think twice about it.

My prayers are with his family and all those who the good fortune to know him. We'll miss you Tom.
~ 
Chris Schuette,
Blaine, Minnesota
December 29, 2002
I often wonder why the finest, gentlest, and most spiritual people often leave us so early in human terms. Perhaps there is a far greater purpose for such beacons of
light.

A conversation with Pops was never dull. In casual conversation, I learned about making tea from plants that grow on Madeline Island. I learned about making homeade microcircuits from Radio Shack parts. I learned volumes about music. Most importantly, I learned how to be a little kinder, gentler and more inquisitive. Thank you Pops for helping us with our music and our lives. We will miss you on this Earthly Plane, but I know that your incredible spirit will light the darkness for all of us.
~ 
Erik Swenson,
St. Paul, Minnesota
December 29, 2002
My mourning over Pops's passing has been like that of a family member. Pops was like a brother to me~ always willing to do whatever he could to help, and always with the best attitude. I had the privilege of playing many fun rock and roll shows with Pops as well as recording songs with him. He has touched the lives of so many, and, judging by what I've seen others write in this guest book, has set a wonderful example for us all. WE WILL MISS HIM SO MUCH, and my heart and prayers go out to his family. Rock on, Pops, and we'll do our very best to keep your memory alive in our hearts and in our songs...can't wait to see you again. Love, Deb
~ 
Deb Brown,
St. Paul, Minnesota

December 29, 2002
I had the honor of working with Tom at Rosemount for many years. A day never went by where you didn't hear him singing in the hallways. He was an immensely talented engineer, and musician - but most of all, a great person. Abbi and Buzz, he was so proud of you guys, our hearts go out to you and all of your relatives. You will be in our prayers for comfort and healing during these tough times. Heaven will be jammin' tonight!
~ 
Shari Durdin,
Maple Grove, Minnesota
December 29, 2002
Pops, Thanks for being there for me when I needed you to fill my heart with music. I only wish I could have been there for you when you needed me to fill your heart. I will always treasure the times we had to share, the trip to Madeline Island, the things you gathered there, the picture with all of us on the back of my pickup truck, and you modest spirit that your loss is just now bringing me to realize fully how great it is.

O great spirit
Whose voice I hear in the wind
Whose breath gives life to the world
Hear me
I come to ask you as one of your many children
I am small and weak
I need your strength and wisdom
May I walk in beauty
Make my eyes behold the red and purple sunset,
Make my hands respect the things that you have made
And my ears sharp to hear your voice
Make me wise so that I may know
The things that you have taught your children
The lessons that you have hidden in every leaf and rock
Make me strong
Not to be superior to my brothers
But to be able to fight my greatest enemy - myself
Make me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes
So that when life fades as the faded sunset
My spirit will come to you without shame

Sincerely,
David Reker
(Sound Engineer, Firefighter/Medic)


~ 
David Reker,
Bloomington, Minnesota
December 29, 2002
May God bless all of Tom's family and friends in this time of complete sorrow. I had the privilege and pleasure of playing with "Pops" in one of his bands, and I can't remember a single time I was in his presence and he didn't make me smile or laugh. He was truly a talented, gifted, caring person with the warmest spirit a person could have. The world would be a much better place if more of us were like you Tom. We will all surely miss you.
My deepest sympathy goes out to your family.
~ 
Gregory Seay,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
December 28, 2002
Tom was a gentle soul with a great sense of humor and a knack for laughing at the ridiculous. Growing up on the north side he was so much brighter and more talented than the rest of us but never made it seem that way to us. Swally, the world was a better place with you in it.
~ 
Barry St. Mane,
Anoka, Minnesota
December 28, 2002
Tom and I were friends our entire lives. The music brought us even closer. His passing on is a very difficult time in all our lives. He became a part of everyone he met. So sad......
~ 
Ernie Coursolle,
Bloomington, MN

December 28, 2002
Have you ever met a person more "real" than Pops? Doubt it.
Not an ounce of pretentiousness, ego, vanity.
He was genuine. (Inspirationally so)
What fun it must have been to work with him at his "day job". working beside a guy like pops would certainly make the day go better.

Dear God,
Please consider this man for a seat at the executive table. Here are but few of his qualifications:
He has the ability to maintain a positive attitude in even the most dyer of moments.
He will make those around him feel welcome & loved.
His generosity is limited only by how many shirts he may have on his back.
He has earned INTEGRITY.

I knew Pops because I played music with him. Playing music has few tangible lasting rewards. For me, meeting good people like Pops, as well as those who know & love him is as good as it gets.

To Pop's family:
Memories are gifts. Tears are the giftwrap. May the joyfull spirit of Pops fill you up with each coming Holiday season.
God bless you all!
~ 
Shane Wisniewski,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
December 28, 2002
Tom, thanks for the 48 years of friendship and memories. We miss you Chief.
~ 
Mike Jensen,
St Michael, Minnesota
December 28, 2002
To the Family of Tom Coursolle;
Such a kind and tallented man will be forever missed. When the HillBilly VooDoo Dolls played at Neumann's I remember how Tom walked those keys with such ease, he made that keyboard sing. God is lucky to now have such beautiful music in Heaven.
~ 
Mary Peterson,
Maplewood, Minnesota
December 28, 2002
Pops was one of the most loveable characters I've ever had the privilidge of knowing and I knew him for 20+ years. No matter if you were enjoying his playing or flying kites with him, there was always a warm glow to a day with Pops and we will sorely miss him.
~ 
Paul Nelson,
Crystal, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
My heart goes out to Abbi, Buzz, and the entire Coursolle family. Tom was my friend's dad, but he was much more than that. He was more like family. He was a kind, fun, caring, wonderful person. He had a huge heart that was apparent the moment you met him. Everyone who ever got the privilege of meeting him will be thankful for the time they had with him and will miss him.

~ 
Natalie Lehman,
Saint Paul, Minnesota

December 27, 2002
Tom you were a great man you will be missed
~ 
Connie Clawson,
Monticello, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
I knew Tommy as a child and teenager. He was such a happy, loving boy and Randy thought he was tops. Will any of us forget the picnics and ball games we spent with him in Little Canada?
Our prayers to God to bring Tommy's family some peace and comfort during this time of sadness.
~ 
MaryAnn Remington,
Mountain Home, Arkansas
December 27, 2002
Tom was a great person. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him a few times while he was working with one of the bands he performed with. He had a very good sense of humour. Lots of wit, and always smiled on stage. I will miss his kind and friendly persona.

My prayers go out to his faimly and friends.
~ 
Nathan Wright,
Spring Park, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
"Pops" will be missed. He was a great guy and a great musician. It's so sad to see, as we all get older, the more friends we lose. You're in our thoughts.
Rico Anderson, Lamont Cranston
~ 
Rico Anderson,
Rockford, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
Tom was one of "those people," the ones many of us admire, marvel at, and, all too often, take for granted. I had the pleasure of playing music with him a couple of times, and regret that it never came to more than that. He was a loyal and generous friend--generous with his mind, his time, his skills. He had the greatest attitude and demeanor. Years ago, when we were neighbors and I was caring for Abbi, he offered to design and build a home security system for us. We couldn't afford to hire pros, and Tom came to the rescue. What he created was simple(to him)and beautiful. He and I installed it, and it was like we were playing with a new toy. It was fun. That was the thing about Tom--he brought humor to every situation.Years later, when I did something stupid and blew a fuse in the system, I got up the courage to call Tom and ask him what to do, not expecting him to take any responsibility for it. "I'll be right over," he says. While I was nervously peering into the damaged guts of the circuit board, he was whistling and singing to himself, and having fun trying to figure it out, which of course he did in short order, and all was right again. "Tom, have some dinner with us," I begged. He always declined compensation, it seemed. "Catch ya later." Well, now there will be no later, and not even Tom can fix that. I am sad, as we all are, especially for Abbi and Buzz; I offer them this poem:


Crystal, Blue
for Danny and Abbi, December 26,2002

The air is crisp and cold today
The sky a crystal, blue
The hammer fell on me today
I take my leave from you

I tell you not to grieve for me
Though I know you will
The sky is crystal blue today
Through cracks I see you still

My bloom has been cut short today
Your bud is fully grown
My freedom is your opening
Yours is what I've sown

I have no higher purpose
Having nurtured you, this day
Than to revel in your flowering
And see you on your way

I am free of you today
You are free of me
Through the crystal blue between us
We alone can see

The hammer fell on me today
Its pain I do defy
Give way your grief to timelessness
Wherein my spirit lies
~ 
steve ford,
st. paul, Minnesota

December 27, 2002
Pops - what an inspiration you were to so many. You're up there jammin' with David now! Keep watch over all of us, OK? We're going to miss you immensely.
~ 
Kim & Bob Dickson,
Minneapolis, Massachusetts
December 27, 2002
I wish Tom's family the deepest sympathy for their loss. Tom was a very creative engineer at Rosemount and contributed greatly to several products. He will be missed greatly by his friends and coworkers.
~ 
Jim Gravel,
Prior Lake, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
Like all of us, I was very saddened by the news of Tom’s (Pops) passing. I met him last summer, and spent several evenings rehearsing music and performing with him. I became fond of him instantly, and offer my deepest sympathies to his friends and family. I have met few people in my lifetime that impressed me the way Pops did. I will never forget the spirit of kindness and cooperation he offered, that was somehow beyond professionalism. He was an example of what I think many of us strive for. I did not know much about him, because any chatting we did, he spoke of his children and not himself. I am sure he loved you all very much.
~ 
Brenda Lee King,
St. Paul, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
Tom "Pops" Coursolle was a great muscian to play with. He always had a smile while rocking out on those keys. Not to many peaple can play that boogie-rockin' style the way Pops could. He always improved any band he was in. But his piano playing alone wasn't the only reason you wanted to be in a band with him. He had that special spirit, that little glint in his eyes and soul that made you ,the other players, really want to play better. That doesn't happen often in bands and when it does you can feel it immediatly! Thanks Pops, You had "it" in all best ways.God bless you and your family.
John Sandbo (drummer)
~ 
John Sandbo,
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
To Pops'Family, I am proud to say Pops was my friend for many years.At a party a couple weeks ago,where Pops and His henchmen from Y.A.W.A.performed,as I helped Pops lug His piano in,huffing and puffing I asked Him'Do you know how long I've been helping you carry this stuff around'?"At least 30 years,"He laughed,"You know,I've been meaning to tell you thanks".Later that night ,while the rest of the band broke down,Pops sat alone at His keyboard,singing and tickling out Tom Waits tunes using only the black keys of His piano.And as I sat and listened to Him play,I thought"You know,I keep meaning to tell you thanks too Tom.Thanks for your friendship and support,Thanks for the memories and conversation,and thanks for the thousands of great runs on them black keys THW
~ 
tom and jackie wakely,
bloomington, Minnesota

December 27, 2002
My heart goes out to Tom's family. I knew Tom (Pops) through his beautiful music he played with a number of different bands. My husband and I had the honor of having him play at our home on Dec.14th with the rest of the band from "You and Who's Army". He had a gift that touched everyone with his extreme kindness, Love for his family, his friends and playing his music. We will miss him deeply.
Love from Paul & Kari
~ 
Kari Erickson,
Minnetonka, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
Tom had the greatest heart. We still hear his laughter. His talent as a musician was great, but his talent as a human being was immense. We could share anything with him, everything the family did, we would say, "Lets call Tom and see if he wants to ... lets call Tom, he will know. He was one of the smartest, most dependable and reliable men we have ever met, or ever will. We called him our brother because he was, his kids have inherited a huge family.
~ 
Michael and Lois and family Weir,
Minneapolis, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
To the family of Tom:
Tom was one of the most admired and respected engineers at Rosemount. He was an incredibly gifted designer and his creations will be part of our products as long as we're in business. It was with incredible shock that we recieved the news of Tom's passing. Tom's humor, individuality, engineering talent and his singing are going to be greatly missed.
Colin Fisher, Rosemount Inc.
~ 
Colin Fisher,
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
December 27, 2002
(From cousin Judy Coursolle's daughter)
To: Phe, Melba, Abbi, Buzz, Suzi, Annette and the rest of Tom's family and friends;
I am so very sorry for your loss, and feel an enormous sadness in my own heart as well, in hearing about Tom. The Music Man, as I referred to him to my kids, (that is how they new which cousin I was referring to), will be missed by so many.... I am sure more than I will ever know. Tom's great spritualness, gift for music, pride in our Indian heritage and over-all kindness, humor and humble way about him, will be carried with me for all of my days. A man to truly admire. I will miss him today and always. My thoughts, love and and numerous prayers are with you all.
Love,
Michele

~ 
Michele Ryan,
Blaine, Minnesota


Tom's Parents

On June 26, 1937 Philip married Melba Jeanette Johnson in Minneapolis. Philip and Melba were the parents of three children.

Melba Jeanette Johnson Coursolle
Melba Jeanette Johnson Coursolle
Philip died May 27, 2003 in Minneapolis, where he spent most of his life. He was buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Philip Edward Coursolle
Philip Edward Coursolle
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