Tom Riley
From Adventures in Odyssey Wiki
- Tom redirects here. For other uses, see Tom (disambiguation)
Thomas Dale Riley Jr., best known by his nickname, Tom, is a resident of Odyssey who has been around since the very first Family Portraits episode, "Whit's Visitor". Tom, born in Marion, Indiana, is an apple farmer; he owns and resides on a large apple farm, which he inherited from his father. In episode #202: "Timmy's Cabin", Tom learns that at least some of the apple trees on his farm were originally sown by Johnny Appleseed. Tom has also been the mayor of Odyssey, a little league coach, and has served on various boards in the town of Odyssey. Tom never dreamed he would accomplish combining his small town idealism with big town effects.
[edit] Family
Tom's second wife, Agnes Riley, is mentally ill and is living at Hillingdale Haven. Tom married her after losing his first wife to cancer. He also had a son, Timmy Riley, who drowned in a boating accident before his father remarried. He also has a great-niece, Jami Martin. His Father was Tom Riley Sr., and he had a sister named Rebecca. Any other family members are not mentioned.
[edit] Friends and Personal life
Tom is good friends with John Whittaker, Bernard Walton, and many others. Tom Riley gets along well with kids and he's always willing to give advice to them, if needed. Tom Riley isn't big on technology or fancy words and (especially in the earlier seasons) was frequently at odds with Eugene on those subjects. After the debut of Bernard Walton, Tom and Eugene were portrayed as less-adversarial friends. Tom is also a very religious man and is an elder in his church. Tom is a great man and is one of the most beloved residents of Odyssey. Tom Riley started The Timothy Center after his son died and named it in his honor.
[edit] Political Life
Tom's political life expanded, however, after his friends urge him to run for mayor in episodes #286 & #287, "Tom for Mayor, Parts 1 & 2". Tom's time as mayor is plagued with troubles brought on by the Blackgaard saga. After his term expires, Tom returns to farming, but is eventually inspired by the memory of his late son Timmy to create a recreation center at his farm for kids from the inner city. The "Timothy Center" has occupied much of his time in the past eight seasons.
[edit] Hobbies
Tom collects old soda pop cans.
[edit] Quotes
| “ | I'm not young, I'm 11 years old. | ” |
| “ | I can't escape this nagging feeling that...we haven't even seen the worst of it yet. I've got no one to blame but myself. I'm the one. I let them do it. Let who do what? I let Novacom build their tower on my property. I'm just sorry that they ever came to town! Some of us are trying to put a stop to it. Well, Whit, I tell ya...if I could, I would pull that thing down, I swear I would, with my bare hands! I swear I would! | ” |
| “ | Eugene, it is not an environmental expedition. It's a fishin' trip. A fishin trip. But Mr. Riley, I don't see anything wrong with studying the cold-blooded vertebrate in it's natural habitat as long as we're already there! I have said it before and I will say it again. Sometimes I just wonder 'bout that boy! | ” |
| “ | You do have a suit, don't you? Connie, I was mayor. It was kinda required. Oh, yeah, I remember that suit. Maybe we should try something from a recent decade. | ” |
| “ | (Referring to Eugene) Sometimes I'm not sure about that boy. | ” |
| “ | That's 'Rinsodent', available at fine grocery stores everywhere! off-mike Whit, we only have one grocery store | ” |
| “ | Say, Mr.Riley I heard about the excitement out at your place this morning. Excitement? Yeah, Nicky Creshaw heard from Steve Perry that Michael Turner was over at Thelma Gardner's who said that she saw seven police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance with the sirens going full blast pull out on to your road! Well that...that was nothing...Officer Harley caught Scott Williams going through some of my apples. | ” |
| “ | Eugene, it is not an environmental expedition. It's a fishin' trip. A fishin trip. But Mr. Riley, I don't see anything wrong with studying the cold-blooded vertebrate in it's natural habitat as long as we're already there! I have said it before and I will say it again. Sometimes I just wonder 'bout that boy! | ” |
| “ | I'm here to give you some very important news, and I thought that you should be the first to know, Miss Kendall! Me? That's never happened before. Odyssey could be the best small town in America! | ” |
[edit] Episodes
| Episodes with Chad Reisser (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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[edit] Gallery
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