Yarnall Genealogy

Thomas Vincent Yarnall Jr - Retirement Years

Income adjustments
After Tom was given a very poor early retirement package by Unisys in 1995; he was able to perform two contract jobs for Unisys because of a good friend named Bob Patey. Tom formed a small company named Sales and People, Inc. The company's mission was to conduct sales training courses and to develop materials for such courses. He landed four contracts in addition to the two for Unisys. His resume from 1997 can be reviewed. He bought what he thought was going to be his last car - a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu.

Other income sources
Polly kept the wolf away from the door during those years because she continued working at JC Penney as a sales associate in their window treatment department until 2003. She never did return to her artwork once the children came on the scene.

During the year 2000 Tom took some exams to see if he could work for the U S Census Bureau. He started as a personnel clerk, was tapped to be a recruiter, and then brought back inside to set up a system to process the flow of work. He became the operations manager for the data gathering for three counties in NJ. That work lasted about a year.

Activity Adjustments
Tom closed down his company in 2002. Home repairs, food shopping, cooking dinner, lawn care, golf, his genealogy research, and building a family web site made it seem like there was not enough time each day. He also gained a keen appreciation for the kind of support his wife had provided over the last 44 years; she was working and he was at home! He finally went to see the Liberty Bell. He and Polly invested in what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. He filed a complaint related to that Ponzi scheme. This began a series of Court Experiences
Tom's Archives
Tom saved various paper documents from his lawsuit. Perhaps some descendants will find them interesting reading. A big item is the collection of family data in his Family Tree Maker program. Sample page. He later switched a program called Roots Magic. All of the data was easily transferred to Roots Magic with a GEDCOM file. Those records are on his computer.
Tom's Golf Handicap Software Project
With significant help from his son, Brad, Tom developed a software system to calculate a golf handicap and to retain records of rounds played. By October of 2002 he had recorded 350 rounds of golf played on 134 courses. He was able to do this because he saved about 90% of the scorecards from the rounds he played years ago. The program's database has nifty comments about each round of golf so a "trip down memory lane" is possible. A graph is generated by this software program that shows the history of Tom's handicap from 1949 into 2012. The lowest handicap he had was 14.7 on July 20, 1978. His first recorded 18-hole round of golf was a 142 on June 22, 1949. Tom played a 9-hole course twice with some high school friends. That 9-hole course in Upper Darby, PA became a shopping center. As of 3/1/2003 he never got an ace or a double eagle. He got 2 eagles and 124 birdies. Tom tried to sell his software program via the internet, but never got more than two inquiries. Not being able to afford a proper promotional approach resulted in no sales. Better use of "spiders" and using a "paid for" domain might have produced sales because the program is exceptional. All descendant golfers will have the chance to use it. The program is available on a CD. His son, Brad, will be able to make the CDs. 2002 was the year of playing the most rounds in a year - 26. Tom's golf rounds have gone down in recent years - 14 in '03, 13 in '04, 11 in '05, 6 in '06, 6 in '07, 8 in '08, 5 in '09, 4 in '10, 4 in '11, 2 in '12, 1 in '13, and 1 in '14. Golf Memories
Great Birthday in 2002
On Saturday, 4/13/2002 (the day before Tom's 70th birthday), a surprise golf outing was arranged. The scores are recorded in his handicap program's database. Tom Yarnall showed he could still break 100 for 18 holes at age 70 and he was still able to win matches with his sons Brad and Steve.
Thanks Brad
We have four pictures from that day. The first picture shows Tom's golf bag with a bag tag that said, "Talk Louder I am 70!" Another bag tag indicated it was the one and only annual tournament and said, "Happy Birthday Tom." The other pictures are of the participants. Brad got up at 4:00 AM and drove all the way from his home in Avon, CT to surprise his dad. He decorated the golf cart with a big "7" and a big "0" on the roof. He also taped silver fringe around the edge of the roof. It was a wonderful surprise.
2004-2007 Activities and Events
Because of the rapidly rising property taxes in Cherry Hill, Tom started attending the school board meetings in 2004 to try to learn why the cost of education was increasing so rapidly each year. The pressure of being on a fixed income pension with 6% to 10% annual increases in school budgets was significant. Tom got very involved in the analysis of what was causing the problem. He discovered the special education programs for "classified children" and the extremely generous health benefits and pension plans for the teachers were the primary cause. Tom attended over a dozen legislative meetings in Trenton, made presentations to committees, met with New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) officials, and wrote a variety of letters to the editor to get the federal funding for the IDEA federal mandate increased. This would alleviate the local tax burden.
Moments to Relax
We have a neat picture of all the Yarnall males taken in 2004. One fun event was in 2005 when son, Steve, his wife Tracey, and their son Jack went to Ocean City, NJ for a vacation. They would invite Tracey's mother to join them for the vacation and welcome Polly and Tom for a visit for a day or two. Tracey arranged for a professional photographer to take some family pictures. Polly's sister Carolyn and her husband Ron came down to join the group. We got some great pictures. My brother Bill came in from California to visit during the summer of 2007. We got together at our sister Sue's house. We had a terrific time for my 75th birthday. Here is a picture of those who helped me celebrate. Thanks to the kindness of a high school classmate, Barbara Dreyer Bardon, we got to stay at Falmouth, MA and go by ferry to visit Martha's Vinyard.
Seeking More Income
Even taking a part-time job in November 2006 with Midlantic Enterprises as a customer support person did not generate enough additional income. That job was very stressful - so stressful that Tom had to quit in May 2007. Later retirement years