In memoriam of Thomas Black

During his career, Thomas Black helped lead the development of a nationwide industry marketing program for residential metal roofing in the United States.

Thomas Lee Black’s great heart gave out on December 15, 2024, one month prior to his 83rd birthday. Tom, a resident of Belfair, Washington, loved music and sports and was a marketing professional, world traveler, woodworker, husband, brother, father, grandfather and friend.

Tom was born in 1942 to Lee Tabner and Ellen Cerwydwyn (Lodwig) Black of Portland, Oregon. He graduated from Franklin High School in 1960 and majored in food science at Oregon State University while competing on the OSU track and field team in discus and shotput. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. While at Oregon State, Tom met his first wife, Sharon Douglass. They married and moved to California for work, where Tom pursued an MBA in Quantitative Analysis at the University of Southern California and they had their first two daughters. A subsequent move to Cleveland, Ohio allowed further career development, musical opportunities in Cleveland and Bay Village, travel opportunities around the Northeast, new friends and a third daughter. In 1973, the family moved back to the Pacific Northwest for good. Following a divorce, Tom married Marilyn Kough in 1988. They made their home on Case Inlet in Victor for 36 years, enjoying watching life on the Sound, boating, church, music, sports and world travel together.

Tom truly enjoyed his career in marketing and advertising. He liked to analyze television commercials and ad campaigns and taught his daughters to do the same from a young age. They still dissect the Super Bowl commercials each year! During his career, he led the expansion of product offerings and markets for Olympia Brewing Company, the use of computerized real-time statistical reporting for scouting and broadcasting in professional baseball (as highlighted in the movie Moneyball) and development of a nationwide industry marketing program for metal roofing on residential properties in the United States. After a decade of directing marketing for one of the USA’s major metal roofing manufacturers, he became convinced that the residential roofing market was ripe for development. He managed to convince everyone from steel companies to roofing installers that they would all be better served to pool their resources to grow that market cooperatively than to compete within it individually. Thus was born the Metal Roofing Alliance, which conducts roofing research and development, creates training materials and courses and advertises through multiple mediums across the USA and Canada. Together the MRA expanded the use of metal roofing in residences from less than 4% of the residential roofing market in 1998 to 11% in 2014 when he and Marilyn retired from their positions of executive director and executive assistant.

Singing and listening to classical music was a huge part of Tom’s life. He sang in school and church choirs and was a founding member and benefactor of the Northwest Repertory Singers, with whom he sang bass for twenty-five years. Following retirement, Tom pursued a longtime desire to play piano by taking lessons and practicing regularly on his keyboards at home. He taught his children that musical learning is a priority and all became proficient in playing orchestral instruments. Next to inspiring a love for music in the next generation, Tom’s proudest musical legacy was leading the funding, acquisition, refurbishment and installation of the great pipe organ for the sanctuary at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, which was designed around the acoustics of the organ and choral program there.

He is survived by his wife Marilyn; daughters Jenelle, Erin (Chris) Kreuter, Megan (Carl Peecher); brother Robert (Gail) Black of Portland; three grandsons: Douglass Peecher, Griffin Kreuter, Sebastian Kreuter; brother-in-law Allan Brown; four nieces, two nephews and ten grandnieces/nephews. A service of remembrance will be announced at a later date. Donations in his name may be made to the Northwest Repertory Singers at www.nwrs.org.