Tom Jochum delivered this eulogy at his friend Tom Slater‘s funeral on March 21. -promoted by desmoinesdem

When Don Avenson passed away in May of last year, Tom Slater called me. He
reminded me that when Republicans controlled the legislature from 1979 to 1982,
Avenson and Lowell Junkins had made us ranking members of the Human Services
Appropriations subcommittee and turned us loose to wreak havoc.

Tom was a cross between Bobby Kennedy and Emmett Grogan and I was a
Northend Kid from Dubuque so we knew what to do.

He had me laughing at the memory of how we had forced them to reinstate a
program that they eliminated, kept them from eliminating programs that they
wanted gone and even instituted a new health care program for children.

But I knew the real reason he called. He knew that Don had been my mentor and
he was checking to see if I was okay. That was vintage Tom Slater.