Thomas Edward Bade

Thomas (Tom) was born December 26 to 1950. To parents Marvin (Red) and Julianna (Judy) and is the
youngest of 3 children. His siblings include his brother Gene and sister Leann. In 1954 Tom's father
purchased the building where the Village Bar is now located, and a family business was born.

Tom and his siblings grew up in Ralston. Tom attended St Gerald's Catholic grade school, Ralston Middle
School and graduated from Ralston High School. He was the first class to graduate from the new high
school location in 1969.

Growing up, Tom enjoyed participating in most sports and loved hunting and fishing. He also worked on
and sold many cars with his dad.

In 1970 Tom joined the Naval Reserve and was stationed in California where he served active-duty on
the USS Hancock aircraft carrier from July 1971 - May 1973. Tom proudly served our country during the
Vietnam War at a time when joining the service was not a popular choice and service members were not
treated very respectfully. In July of 1972 Tom married his wife of 49 years Ramona (Mona), who had
just graduated from high school, and she moved to California with him. May of 1973 Tom was released
from activity-duty and he returned home to Ralston where he joined his dad managing, working at, and
eventually purchasing the bar and building.

Upon returning from California, he started his family with Mona and had two children Todd and Trish.
Tom taught his children to work hard and play hard. He always wanted to make sure his kids could take
care of themselves, so he taught them life skills like home and vehicle repairs, and how to throw a
punch. Todd and Trish started at a young age helping clean the bar and apartments, and they also
helped mow lawns in the summer. Tom and Grandpa Red paid them for their work, and they would
save all summer for the family vacations. Family vacations started with packing boxes and preparing
coolers, loading up the van or blazer and getting on the road to their destination. The Bade family saw
much of the United States because of these trips. Many memories were created in KOA campgrounds
and on the drive. One of his favorite places was Lake of the Ozarks where the family spent vacations
fishing, camping, mini-golf and go-karts. He also loved amusement parks and roller coasters. No matter
what, he always seemed to make time for the family vacations. In recent years Tom and Mona took
many trips including Mexico and Alaska, where he would fish, haggle with the street vendors, and hang
out with his friends.

Todd and Trish both married and expanded the family with daughter in-law Angie, and a son in-law
Mike. Trish and Mike gave Tom his first grandchild Neko, and Todd and Angie filled in the missing piece
with his granddaughter Jocie. Grandpa Tom enjoyed taking Neko fishing and to Cabela's to play the
shooting games. He loved taking time to buy his own special gift for each grandchild for the holidays and
always made sure they had money for their pockets.

In 2011 Tom decided to step down from the Village Bar but remained the property owner. The bar was
reopened under the same name by a Ralston graduate and friend Brock Hatterman. Brock has kept
much of the bar the same and has shown an amazing respect of the history, with a few tweeks here and
there. Even after stepping down, Tom still enjoyed going to the bar to have a beer with friends, watch
Jeopardy, talk about old times, and check his keno tickets. In 2021 Todd purchased the property from

Tom and Mona. He is managing the property and apartments, and Brock continues to be the owner of
The Village Bar. Todd is the 3 rd generation of the Bade namesake to be a part of the business.

Tom was a one of a kind. He knew almost everyone in Ralston and tried to be a friend to all. He was
always there to lend a hand when he could. He loved to tell people about his favorite fishing spots and
where to go in Mexico and always spoke proudly of his family and friends. His feeling was if you came to
the Village Bar more than once, than you were a regular and you were family. He will be greatly missed.