[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 174 (Wednesday, December 2, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H8864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING CHEF TOM PRITCHARD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Florida (Mr. Jolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember a veteran, a 
legendary chef, and a man known as the godfather of the Tampa Bay 
hospitality industry.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a dear friend to so many in the 
Pinellas County and Tampa Bay community, Mr. Tom Pritchard, executive 
chef of the Bay Star Restaurant Group. Tom passed away this past week 
following surgery to ease the effects of Parkinson's disease. He was 74 
years old.
  Anyone who knew Tom will tell you that he was a storyteller who was 
larger than life. He had his own unique sense of style and had a way of 
making anyone he met feel like they had known each other for decades.
  Born in Rochester, New York, Tom's first restaurant job came at the 
age of 14, when he started work shucking oysters for the legendary Guy 
Lombardo at his East Point House restaurant on Long Island.
  After high school, Tom left home for college in Iowa before being 
drafted by the U.S. Army in 1964. Tom was stationed in Germany for 
several years before being honorably discharged in 1967.
  After serving his country, Tom continued to spend time abroad, living 
in London, Mexico, Morocco, Scotland, and owning restaurants in France 
and Spain. Eventually, he moved to Florida, and in the 1990s he 
partnered with Frank Chivas, a seafood broker who would become a dear 
and lasting friend of Tom's. The two would open Salt Rock Grill in 
Indian Shores. Under Tom's guidance and tutelage, Salt Rock's kitchen 
became a training ground for up-and-coming chefs.
  Always quick to help others and share recipes, and with his inventive 
approach to cooking, Tom became a Florida food legend. One longtime 
food critic wrote of Tom's generosity: `` `Mentor' is too trite a word 
for what Tom Pritchard did for literally hundreds of people, young and 
old, in the kitchen.''
  Tom would go on to oversee the kitchens at Island Way Grill and Rumba 
Island Bar and Grill in Clearwater and Marlin Darlin in Belleair 
Bluffs--along the way, always helping others. You see, it was Tom's 
generosity outside the kitchen that defined the man he was.
  As one director of a Florida charity wrote this week, Tom set the 
platinum standard for community support, underwriting substantial food 
and labor costs annually at benefits for numerous nonprofit 
organizations, like the Abilities Foundation, Clearwater for Youth, and 
the Ryan Wells Foundation.
  The Abilities Foundation alone raised $3.7 million from 25 years of 
wine and food tastings thanks to the help of Tom Pritchard and Frank 
Chivas. Tom and Frank's mere presence at a fundraiser influenced the 
participation of countless sponsors and attendees.
  Tom was always quick to lend his time and talents to benefit programs 
that helped disabled and other individuals find jobs and live 
independently. Mr. Speaker, let it be known to all that Tom Pritchard 
gave more than he took.
  Tom was preceded in death by his father, Thomas Alden Pritchard, Sr.; 
mother, Ruth McCarthy Pritchard; brother, Jeffery Lloyd; and son, Adam 
D. Ostfeld, who also served his country in the Armed Forces. He is 
survived by his loving wife of 24 years, Jody D. Hale; her husband, 
Daniel Hale; sisters, Cynthia A. Tischer, Laurie N. Pritchard; and 
brother, John C. Pritchard.
  Mr. Speaker, the Pinellas County community, the Tampa Bay community, 
and our culinary and charitable communities throughout Florida lost a 
treasure with the passing of chef Tom Pritchard.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in remembering his contributions and 
his legacy of helping others and serving our Nation.

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