Thomas N. Hemphill

Thomas Nelson Hemphill

September 8, 1931 – May 8, 2025

Tom Hemphill, beloved husband of Susan (Young) Hemphill, loving father of Lisa (Keith) McGill, Susan Joy Hemphill and Betsey Gagliano, grandfather to Meghan Esquivel (Ovidio), Caitlin Sprouse (Darrin), Sarah Gagliano (Josh Butcher), TJ (Thomas Joseph) Gagliano, and great grandfather to Hadley, Rory and Dawson Sprouse and Maizie Butcher.

Tom was born in Des Moines, Iowa and graduated from Drake University with a degree in journalism and fine art. He developed an interest in politics at a young age and was proud of the role the Iowa caucuses played in presidential elections. Growing up during World War II, he acquired a lifelong interest in the force of personalities like Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was equally fascinated by the evil charisma of Adolph Hilter and would read anything with a swastika on the cover.

Tom served in the Navy Reserve. He liked to joke that he participated in the Battle of Narragansett Bay. And he disappointed his more jaded shipmates by spending his shore leave sightseeing in New York.

Tom loved working. Fresh out of college, he was thrilled to get a job at KRNT-TV in Des Moines and quickly worked his way up to become director of a popular Friday night talk show. In that role he met most national politicians of the time as they campaigned in the state, including John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. He left the station in the 1960s to work in advertising where he wrote for consumer products as well as local political campaigns. In 1969 Tom relocated his family to Baltimore to work at W.B. Doner as a writer and creative director. In the early 1980s Tom moved to Philadelphia and became creative director at Kalish and Rice. He stayed with the agency as it was acquired by larger agencies and in his 70s, he retired from Earle Palmer Brown.

Throughout his life Tom appreciated cartooning and had aspired to be a cartoonist. He was known to entertain antsy children at the dinner table by drawing little caricatures on placemats and could sketch a mean Dick Tracy profile. In retirement he took up painting and spent hours in his basement studio listening to NPR or a baseball game and painting landscapes and still lifes for family, friends, and his own pleasure. For many years he volunteered at WXPN’s Free-At-Noon concerts and on Wednesdays he assisted at the Vision Through Art class for blind sculptors at the Allen Lane Art Center. In nice weather when the Phillies had a day-game he would take the train to Citizens Bank Park, buy a standing room ticket and nurse a beer or two. For many years Tom served on the Board of Directors of the Chestnut Hill Community Association.

As a 30-year resident of Chestnut Hill he made friends of many neighbors. And although Tom was a committed liberal he was always fair and kind, and respectful to people of all political persuasions. Friends wanting to make a donation in Tom’s memory are encouraged to consider Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor, Brenda’s Cat Rescue or a local non-profit or arts organization (Wyck Historic House or Woodmere, for example) that may see needed funding disappear as a result of recent political action.

Tom died peacefully at home on May 8, 2025 at the age of 93. His family and friends will celebrate his long, wonderful all-American life at a later date.