Thomas Wayne Semendoff

On Tuesday, June 18, 2024, beloved son, and brother Thomas Wayne Semendoff, passed away prematurely of an accidental death at age 48. 

Thomas was born on May 2, 1976, at Victory Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, NY to Barbara “Cindy” (Hotchkiss) Semendoff. He was the grandson of Harlow Robert Hotchkiss and Giovannina “Janet” (D’Anna) Hotchkiss, Abraham Semendoff and Lorraine Mildred (Gallagher) Semendoff. He was the great-grandson of Providenza “Nancy” (Sconduto) D’Anna and Gaspare D’Anna, Sarah (Chernova) Semendoff and Gabriel Semendoff.

Thomas was a lover of all types of animals such as cats, dogs, birds, fish, squirrels, rabbits, ferrets, reptiles, pet-store adopted rats and mice, and all other animals in general. Because he lived in an apartment with limited space, rescuing and nurturing animals was a big part of his and his family’s life when he was younger.

Thomas was also a lover of music. He had a collection of vinyl albums and turntables, and considered becoming a DJ when he was younger. When he was not trying to teach himself how to DJ, he was listening to music, from old school rap to the alternative band R.E.M., on cassette tapes on his boombox. 

Thomas grew up living across the street from his maternal grandparents Harlow Robert Hotchkiss and Janet (D’Anna) Hotchkiss, his maternal great-grandmother Providenza “Nancy” (Sconduto) D’Anna, and his maternal aunt Denise and her two sons. His other aunts, uncles, and cousins lived close by. When he was young, Thomas enjoyed hanging out on the stoop in front of his apartment spending time with family, friends, and neighbors. Thomas was very sociable and well-liked by everyone in the community during these years. When Thomas and his two older siblings were young, they would spend hours roller-skating and riding their bikes up and down West 6th Street in Brooklyn, where the family lived.

Growing up, Thomas was highly intelligent but had a challenging time in school due to a late diagnosis of dyslexia. In elementary school his teacher once had his older sister come to class as a tutor to help him with his assignments (this did not go over well). When Thomas was a teenager, he would often have deep conversations with his sister about philosophy, history, books, and the world in general. At that time, he seemed wise beyond his years. 

When Thomas was young, the family did not have cable TV. When he wasn’t playing Pong on the television set with a “rabbit ears” antenna, or video games on the Atari system, he was watching his favorite shows: Knight Rider, wrestling, I Love Lucy, The Three Stooges, The Munsters, The Jetsons, Mr. Magoo, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Eight is Enough, Welcome Back Kotter, Sanford and Son, All in the Family, Charlie’s Angels, Happy Days, Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, The Jeffersons, Mork and Mindy, What’s Happening, The Carole Burnett Show, The A-Team, Columbo, The Little Rascals, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Sesame Street, Saturday Morning Cartoons, and The Muppet Show. These shows had a huge influence on Thomas’ unique personality and sense of humor. Thomas had a contagious laugh and unique voice that everyone in the community would comment on. Thomas was obviously different, and playfully weird from most kids back then. 

Thomas’ favorite character from The Muppet Show was Fozzie Bear. When he was a toddler, he had a stuffed Fozzie Bear that he cherished, which he referred to as his “Gigi”.  He slept with his Gigi every single night. It was his best friend. When Thomas was little, he loved playing with toy dinosaurs, dragons, Star Wars and He-Man toys, GI Joes, Lincoln Logs, puzzles, Simon Says, card games, checkers, chess, Connect Four, and Battleship. Since Thomas shared a bedroom with his older siblings from infancy to their very early pre-teen years, the siblings always had someone to play with, but there was often a tug of war over sharing and playing with toys and games in such a small and crowded space.

When Thomas was a teenager he worked as a server, for a brief period of time, at La Palina Restaurant and Catering Hall in Brooklyn, NY. One year he even dressed up as Santa Claus for the restaurant’s holiday festivities. Thomas loved Christmas as much as his siblings, and for several years in a row, when they were very young, the excitement ended with the three of them knocking down the Christmas Tree. The solution was anchoring the tree to the wall, so all three siblings would be able to crowd around and play with the Christmas Tree without broken bulbs, tears, and the threat of Christmas being cancelled.

“Thomas, peace be with you on your journey. You are loved. You are missed. Life was definitely interesting and unexpected with you in it. Your siblings will always remember the times they made animal shadow-puppets with you on the bedroom wall across from the night-light, late at night to pass the time in the darkness. Peace be with you always and remember to always follow the light, no matter how dark it may become.”

Thomas was preceded in death by his father, his father’s older brother and older sister Diane, all four of his grandparents and great-grandparents, his cousin Anthony Votto, his cousin Dennis Mazza Jr., his uncle Thomas Muzio, and his aunt Denise Hotchkiss. Thomas is survived by his mother, his older siblings, several cousins, nieces, a nephew, aunts, uncles, and his daughter.

Thomas was cremated with most of his ashes and urn going to his older brother, and a small portion sent to his mother. Thomas did not have a funeral or mass service due to his unexpected death, and family members spread across the country. If you would like to send a sympathy card, mass card, plant, food, plant trees in Thomas’ name, or donate to an animal charity or to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in tribute to Thomas, please contact the family directly or just do it on your own.