Thomas B. Garlick Jr.

Attorney Tom Garlick passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 27th. He was born in Rochester, New York, to Dr. Thomas and Mary Garlick, and was a graduate of LeMoyne College of Syracuse, New York, and Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. After a judicial clerkship, he joined a Rochester litigation firm, where, after 3 years, he became a partner, adding his name to the firm title, Hickey, McHugh & Garlick. Tom married his beloved wife, then Eleanor (“Nancy”) Regan, in 1965. After 16 years of practice with this firm as a trial attorney, he was offered the opportunity for a change of scenery (and weather) and moved to sunny Naples, Florida, opening a Naples law office for a large, regional, upstate New York law firm, Harter, Secrest & Emery. He grew the Naples office from just himself to 16 attorneys before he left to accept an offer from a large Tampa firm to form Naples and Fort Myers offices for it. He grew their combined Southwest Florida offices to 20 attorneys during the next 4 years. With that accomplished, he left to form his own firm in early 2001. Tom practiced law for nearly 60 years, and he and Nancy lived in Naples starting in 1981. Tom was Florida Bar Board Certified in Real Estate Law and a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator. He avidly participated in the cultural and civic life of the region, principally through the Philharmonic Center for the Arts (now Artis-Naples Philharmonic) and the Greater Naples Area Chamber of Commerce in both volunteer and professional capacities, and in a number of volunteer programs for several other charitable organizations for which he provided legal services pro-bono. Tom was a graduate of the Leadership Collier Program of the Naples Area Chamber and was active in its alumni program. He was a Member and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Council of Collier County, and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Chamber of Southwest Florida. He was a member of both the New York and Florida Bars, as well as the Collier County Bar. Tom served on the Board of Governors of the Ave Maria School of Law for many years. He and Nancy travelled extensively in Europe, but his favorite trips were family vacations with his three grown children. He was a longtime member of the Naples Yacht Club and enjoyed cruises and fishing trips as his schedule allowed. Tom was an avid Gulf Coast and Florida Keys backwater and offshore fisherman and boater. He was predeceased by his wife Eleanor (“Nancy”) Garlick, his parents, Mary and Thomas Garlick, Sr., and his sister, Jo Oberstar. He is survived by his children Mary E. Katherine Garlick (Anastasia), Thomas B. Garlick III, (Vivian), and Timothy Garlick (Michele), cherished grandson, Elijah S. Garlick, and sister Maureen Webb. A memorial visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Shikany’s Bonita Funeral Home 28300 Tamiami Tr. So., Bonita Springs, FL. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 1:30 PM at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Naples. Burial services will be held at the Oakwood Cemetery in Penfield, NY. Donations for the Ave Maria School of Law are requested in lieu of flowers. To sign his guest register or to leave online condolences please visit www.ShikanyFuneralHome.com. Arrangements are being handled by Shikany’s Bonita Funeral Home Family Owned and Operated Since 1978.

Thomas B. Garlick Jr.

September 17, 1937 - March 27, 2025