Name
Cumberland, MD
Thomas
B. Finan
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Tom received his B.S.
in accounting from Mount St. Mary's College in 1964 and
subsequently completed two years of graduate work in
the University of Maryland Law School. His job experiences
include law clerking, a summer of internship for a senator,
and newspaper advertising. He has traveled through Europe,
Mexico, and Canada. Among his hobbies are golf, music,
reading, and basketball. He was a member of his college
tennis and debating teams. Long interested in politics,
Tom has been active in several political campaigns. He
hopes to pursue law as a career after his Peace Corps
service. He is 24.
More Recent
Photos
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2007 and Work
Tasna,
Buen Retiro (May 1967 ---July 1969 )
• Taught
technical English to Bolivian mining engineers and
some in local elementary school
• Taught some basic public health
• Helped set up consumer co-op with a local Belgian Jesuit
missionary
Service
Following Peace Corps, I returned to my hometown, Cumberland, MD, and after a couple of months decided to join our local newspaper on the business side. Over the next 18 years I bought stock in the company publishing the paper whenever I could and eventually became majority owner. The Cumberland Times-News was a 35,000 circulation daily with about 150 employees. In 1987 we decided to sell the paper. Over time I became an investor in the development of assisted living facilities. I miss the newspaper and my time spent there provided happy memories and my most satisfying business experience.
During the early years at the paper I attended Johns Hopkins University and earned a master of liberal arts degree. My undergraduate area at Mt. St. Mary's College had been in business and I had always wanted to balance that off.
The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting my future wife, Mary Kay Kelly, in 1979. As a confirmed 37 year old bachelor I proposed to Mary Kay six weeks after meeting her-----a shock to everyone. She was 25. It wasn't lost on me that when I was a senior in high school she was in first grade.
Now, 28 years later, we have a son, Patrick, 26, and a daughter, Kelly, 23. Patrick went to Duke and is now completing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Arizona State University. Kelly is just now returning to Vanderbilt to resume studies after having been on a medical leave for three years. A kidney transplant saved her life last year, but she has had some nasty side effects of renal failure which now confine her to a wheelchair. She is slowly getting better and now seems well enough to return to school fulltime.
Mary Kay and I have spent a lot of time raising money for and awareness of transplant donor issues. Mary Kay is a professor at Frostburg State University in Western Maryland. I like running and tennis and immersing myself in higher ed issues and am just now ending 12 years on the board of regents of the University System of Maryland.
PC In Your Life
The effect of my PC experience was very subtle. As in the case of many other RPCVs, I look at the U.S. more critically in some ways and more admiringly in others.
• The best
things about
my PC Experience...
Meeting the people and seeing the
places…and working with colleagues from Bolivia 29.
• The worst
things about my PC experience...
Many people I know who were not in
the Peace Corps seem to undervalue the experience.
• Special things I remember
Also loved playing frisbee and killing
time with Bill (McCabe) Coolidge at Camp Armac. A number of
us went to Rio for Mardi Gras and I've never gotten that out
of my mind..
RPCV Groups
My wife and I are trying to facilitate our daughter's return to college after a long medical leave.
Books:
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