Sad news Tom Faletti has passed

[starfighterace]

It is with a very heavy heart to inform you that our dear friend Tom Faletti passed away Friday afternoon, St Patrick's day. The Previous Friday or early Saturday morning Tom suffered a massive Heart Attack and he never regains consciousnesses. He is survived by his Wife Michelle and two adult children, Ian and Rebecca. There will be no service at his request.

He was a dear and long time friend. We spent many a trip together to model shows and museums all up and down the East Coast and into the Mid-West. Tom was an excellent modeler and many time award winner over the years including several IPMS/USA Nationals. He was also a partner in American Racing Classics which is where many of you know him from. He also helped Garry Doucette with Masters and technical advice and has consulted with many others in the IndyCar Resin Casting world.

I will miss him greatly.

[indydog]

Sorry to hear this. Very sad news.

[Gary Davis]

Man....That is very sad news indeed. RIP Tom.

[illeagle10]

Sad to hear! Another one of the great ones gone too soon! RIP Tom.

Jim

[lance]

So very sad to hear this.

[kyledehart5]

I didn’t know Tom but I sure am sorry to hear about this.

[pje]

I’m so sad to hear this news. Tom was of great help to me, especially if the engine was in front.
Our group is certainly lesser in his passing. My heart goes out to all his friends and family.

Paul Erlendson

[Calvin]

I've had my share of interactions with Tom and it was all positive. Incredible to work with and enthusiastic about the hobby. His work was unbelievable.
RIP

[sandysixtysfan]

Truly sad news. His exceptional modeling skills were passed only by him being one of the really good guys. Always friendly and willing to share his vast building knowledge. Tom was also a walking encyclopedia on Indy 500 history. RIP Tom.

Sandy

[jamesharvey]

Tom was one of the best and this is truly a loss. To honor him, please take a minute and search for some of his builds that have posted here. His work was remarkable. He could tell you how he did something but you still ended up wondering. He was that good. His models were always in a class by themselves as evidenced by his record in shows. It is ironic that the model on my work bench is one we traded. I sent him one; he sent one back. Now. more than ever, it has a special meaning. I will treasure his handwritten note inside. Some of us here on the site are older. I will be 82 in June. Let us all treasure the days and what is shared here. Model on.
Jim

[gwstexas]

So sad to loose one of the greats in our hobby!
Gary

[1961redlegs]

This is a tragedy. Tom was a good fellow, who it was a pleasure to have known. This is truly a loss to the hobby, but more importantly it is a loss to all of us who are richer for having known him.

[quattro]

To acknowledge this post I almost pressed the like button.
But it seems odd to 'like' sad news like this.
Nothing wrong with doing it. Just me.

I did not know Mr Faletti, but I would just like to pass on my sympathies,
to not only to the family, but to all of you on here and the wider modelling community there,
at a time when you are all feeling his loss so deeply.

[alterrenner]

I did not know Tom Feletti, but from what I've read here, that is my loss--my sympathies to those of you that knew and worked with him

--Frank

[racerbrown]

Difficult to even express how much i liked and admired Tom. Any time we talked on the phone it was a minimum one hour more likely to be two hour conversation.
A lot of the time we hardly talked about modeling. There's just not enough good people like him in the world. This really hurts.
Duane

[harveythedog2]

So sorry to hear.

[alwaysindy]

Sad news…Tom was a real talent; clean builds, fantastic paint, interesting subjects, and a fine scratch builder.Here are 2 of his builds…

Tom was soooooo good…

There are others, but they have “photobucket” covering them.
Rest in peace Tom…

[spyder]

Tom was a friend, partner in American Racing Miniatures and as everything above reminds us, a damned good open wheel modeler and Indy 500 historian. He was also a closet WW-I model aircraft builder. I met Tom at a local IPMS monthly meeting about 20 years ago. I saw two beautiful Indy Car models, one in 1/25th scale and the other in 1/43rd. I sought the builder out and a friendship began. He joined our monthly build group, we attended model shows, local open wheel races races and the 500 together and eventually formed American Racing Miniatures. Despite the challenges and differences with regard to ARM and eventual dissolution of the company, we remained friends.

Tom was at my house on a Friday night two weeks ago for our monthly build night with Mark Tutton and four other local modelers. He was in good spirits. My wife noted that he looked very good with his newly acquired goatee. Another member noted that he was in good spirits and I recall a conversation he had with one of our younger members about Frank Lloyd Wright, a favorite topic of Tom's. Tom had also returned to his artistic roots doing beautiful water colors of landscapes and old, dilapidated barns and buildings. He did them with typical Tom Faletti attention to color, shade, and detail. He was working on a Gary Doucette kit that night. Tom was one of a few who could truly turn these into masterpieces. It was a shock to hear from his wife, Michelle, the next morning that he had suffered a massive heart attack during the night from which he expired one week later. So, he spent his last night with friends, building a model Indy Car and talking about his favorite past times. Rest in piece Tom. You leave a big hole in our hearts and in our shared hobby.

[1961redlegs]

Ed, thank you for the memories of Tom. I never knew he was a First World War aviation modeler, I am too, so he certainly was a man after my own heart. Thank you for letting us know that. I’m glad he was happy doing things he loved and among friends before his heart attack.

He was a master builder, and you were right that he could turn a Gary Doucette kit into a jewel. Those kits have their quirks, but you wouldn’t know it to see his work. We were much the richer for having known him, and much the poorer for having lost him.

[bobbyc]

Ed called me to say that Tom passed. Tom was a really neat person. Very knowledgeable on a myriad of subjects, but particularly of Indy cars, and even more so of the cars of the 20's through the roadster era. I met him for the first time at a model contest (I think in Va) after I noticed his model of a 2-seater Indy car driven by Lou Meyer. We became fast friends after that initial meeting, and I always looked forward to seeing him, Ed Mautner, Mark Tutton, Sandy, Kip, and Duane at the various contests we all attended. This is a very sad time, but Tom will be remembered with great fondness by all who knew him.

[indycals]

I don't know how I didn't see this for an entire week! This is devastating news. I always looked forward to seeing him at the memorabilia show, and I am so grateful that he brought Fred Lombardo to the show in 2021 - that was the first time I'd seen Fred in about 10 years and it turned out to be the last time I'd see him.

[Art Laski]

Wow, sad news. I am glad I had the opportunity to meet Tom when Ed and I went to the Virginia IPMS show together. I loved his builds. RIP Tom.

[indycals]

Tom was an unsung hero of our community. His knowledge was unsurpassed, and has been invaluable in the development of many products. Anyone who's on the selling end of this community knows Tom was great customer and supporter of our efforts. And what he and Ed with American Racing Miniatures was a huge shot in the arm for our hobby. I was amazed at what they did.