Tom Calabro Jr., of Bellevue, Nebraska passed away peacefully surrounded by love and his beloved family on December 19, 2025. Tom was born on June 13, 1945, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was born to mother Virginia Mahan of Portsmouth, New Hampshire and father Tom Calabro Sr. of Omaha, Nebraska. Tom’s father met his mother while serving in the US Coast Guard during World War II when he was stationed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Tom lived in a house in Omaha with both his parents, his younger sister Rose, and his grandparents who were from Sicily, Italy. Not long after that Tom’s father decided that he wanted to go back into the service which took his family to New Bedford, Massachusetts where they lived with other service families.
Tom’s family then moved to South Haven, Michigan; he also spent time living in Chicago, Illinois prior to graduating in 1963 in Ludington, MI. He spent some time back in Omaha after that and then was drafted into the service at age 18. He spent three years in the Navy, stationed on destroyer ship which took him to the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic, and many other places. He volunteered to go to Vietnam and fought on river boats for the latter portion of his service with the Navy, which ended in 1968.
Tom returned to Omaha, when he was 21 and attended the University of Omaha for a couple years and wanted to start working instead. He held various jobs at a packing house and then a factory job. A friend of his encouraged him to take an exam to be hired for the Omaha fire or police department. When he made it through to the final stages of testing, he was asked whether he wanted to be a fireman or police officer. He wasn’t sure, so he flipped a coin. It landed on heads and then he embarked on a career with the City of Omaha Fire Department in 1971.
Tom met the love of his life, Adelia (Della) Aranza on a double date with friends. Their love eventually evolved and they were married on May 22, 1976. Della already had a five-year-old daughter named Stephanie and they welcomed a baby girl together, named Jessica on January 28th, 1979. Providing for his family was of the utmost importance to Tom. Over the years there were many family gatherings, vacations, and cherished memories that Tom held close to his heart.
He continued to advance his career with the fire department and excelled at this. He held the following ranks within the fire department: Private, Driver, Captain, Battalion Chief, Drill Master, and he ultimately became the Administrative Assistant Chief of the Omaha Fire Department in 1993, becoming second in command. His career with the fire department lasted almost 30 years. He retired from the Omaha Fire Dept on May 14, 2000, at the age of 54. Tom also served as an elected officer of the Fire Union Local 385. He was the chairman of the police and fire pension system board of trustees. Tom was also a member of the South Omaha American Legion Post 331 and VFW Post #2704.
In Tom’s retirement, he became an Entry Security Officer for the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Department for 13 years. He enjoyed his position, which kept him busy and still in a position of authority. He enjoyed all the excitement at the Sarpy County courthouse and the new friendships with co-workers that he made.
Tom and Della, his beloved wife, enjoyed many vacations together. They travelled to Mexico frequently, Las Vegas, and Kansas City just to name a few. Some of their grandest trips include different cities in Ireland and taking a cruise around Europe to explore the beautiful landscape and architectures. The loved going to movies, having dinners together, spending time with friends, family, and being involved with their grandchildren.
Tom had an intense love for baseball and his Boston Red Sox and second favorite team, the Kansas City Royals. He loved the history of the sport and participating in his fantasy baseball league every spring. He also enjoyed NFL football, the Kansas City Chiefs. He was an avid fan of boxing and Terrence Crawford. He followed his career closely and didn’t miss one fight. He was on a waiting list for many years to get College World Series season tickets. He finally got his seats and enjoyed going to many games with his wife and family.
Tom had developed cardiomyopathy, at age 45 which was due to his career on the fire dept because they did not require firefighters to wear masks prior to 1984. He ultimately had to have a pacemaker with a defibrillator in 1999. His heart failure progressed and he lost his pumping ability on the left ventricle which led him to be a candidate for an LVAD pump. He had this device installed in 2015 at Nebraska Medicine.
He was one of the first recipients of the Heartmate 3 and he celebrated having this device for 10 years this past October. The hospital used Tom as a resource for potential LVAD candidates. He enjoyed being an advocate and educating patients on what it entails to live with an LVAD device. He is the longest living patient with this specific device in the State of the Nebraska. Although this device wasn’t always glamourous and required a strict protocol, it was an investment in his life to let him have more time with his family. We are forever grateful to his team of doctors and LVAD nurses at Nebraska Medicine.
We will miss him dearly, but know that he fought the good fight, he lived a full life, he is at peace now and he did it “his way”.
Tom was preceded in death by his parents, Tom Calabro Sr. and Virginia Calabro.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Adelia (Della) Calabro; children: Stephanie Nekola, Jessica (Frank) Sliva; grandchildren: Tess, Taylor, and Reese; sister: Rose (Jerry) Abboud and many beloved nieces and nephews.
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