EDITORIAL: Charlie Tomlinson’s servant’s heart should inspire all

I used to dislike writing obituary pieces.

After 10 years in journalism, I know it’s our duty to ask difficult, uncomfortable and frankly obvious questions of average citizens to get a sense of how an issue at hand matters to their day-to-day life. With obituaries, or pieces designed to commemorate the life of someone who was noteworthy in the community, that often means reaching out to family and friends of those who knew the person — often during a sensitive time.

The obituary I was tasked with writing for Charlie Tomlinson was a heavy task.

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I had the pleasure of knowing Charlie for five years since I joined Today Media as a reporter in 2020. In a sense, he and his sense of style was a constant in office life: his dress pants or khakis, his white button-down shirt and sports coat.

More importantly, I remember his booming voice as he called my name before he dropped a huge stack of business journals from all around the country for “research and reading.” And the casual way he leaned against my cubicle wall with an easy grin as he mentioned something he heard out at a mixer or chamber event or some other piece of news.

Perhaps even more important than that was his easy grin as he passed me a packet of M&Ms as he sauntered his way to his office.

Because I joined the company right before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the entire world to go remote, I had an unorthodox introduction to Today Media culture. But in the rare times I was in the office on Lancaster Avenue, he made a point to find our out-of-the-way corner just to check in on me and our team.

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. But as the years passed, Charlie was an easy man to talk to and very interested in helping in any small way. That included making an email connection with a potential source or sending forwarding copious amounts of emails on industry news my way. Back then, I often marveled at how in the loop he was with organizations spanning higher education, commercial real estate, health insurance and more.

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But as I had the pleasure of talking to a small handful of people who knew Charlie far better than I and for much longer, I guess I should not be as surprised. Much like his sharp dress, Charlie’s ability to be right in the thick of it was just part of his DNA. As it turns out, unfortunately, I could not include everything in one piece.

Such things include Charlie’s servant’s heart, as one friend told me. He participated in numerous boards and associations, many of which I was not able to include in his obituary.

Delaware Business Times Editor Katie Tabeling

He served on several boards in his native West Chester, including the Chester County Chamber of Commerce Association, Chester County Tourist Promotion Bureau, Brandywine Chapter of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, Philadelphia Ad Club and the Main Line Chamber of Commerce. He is also very active in the Committee of 100 here in Delaware as well as the Commercial – Industrial Real Estate Council.

On a more lighthearted note, his habit of passing me candy from the front desk was not just for me. Charlie also had a wicked sweet tooth, apparently. One of his former interns told me that it wasn’t uncommon for  Charlie to enjoy a lunch of an Almond Joy, a pack of Reese’s and a Coca-Cola in the 1980s.

Charlie was a man of faith and was a devoted member of the Catholic Church. He was also a deacon at St. Agnes Parish, his friends told me. One told me while they never directly talked about religion, he thought Charlie’s faith helped shape how he approached the world and likely gave him a sense of peace.

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Dave Tiberi, who had known Charlie for years, said that may have also shaped how he worked with people.

“Charlie was not a judgmental guy and that’s what you had to love about him. No matter where you stood, Charlie was never judgmental. I never really heard him say a single bad word about anybody,” he told me.

It also became very apparent how he loved helping people. So many stories have come out on how Charlie helped ease them in a networking event. People have told me that he had a knack of striking up a conversation with someone on the fringes of a crowd. Charlie would also love to walk them around the room and spend the whole event making introductions.

Reflecting on Charlie’s pop-ins at the Delaware Business Times, I realize now he was likely checking in to see how I was doing and if he could provide any help at all. One of the biggest missed opportunities is how hybrid work kept me from seeing how Charlie operated in everyday life.

He truly had a servant’s heart and, if anything, it can be seen in those tiny gestures as well as the numerous people out there who remember even the slightest act of kindness.

That, to me, is a true measure of a life well lived – that the series of small, good deeds provides an overall tapestry of a life well lived.

Thank you all for sharing your stories with me as I had the difficult task of writing about our valued colleague Charlie and your dear friend. I am so honored to get to see Charlie through new eyes through your memories.

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