Born and brought up in the traditional Catholic family in the spice coast of India, Fr. Tom was ordained in the year 1993 as a religious order priest of the Claretian Missionary Fathers. While completing  the doctoral program in Organization Development from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he served as the  spiritual director for the seminarians in Saint John Vianney  Seminary in Saint Paul. During his 30 years of priestly ministry, Fr. Tom served in various capacities as Rector of seminarians, professor of Philosophy, Principal of Saint Claret College in India,  Pastor in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. He became an American Citizen in 2010, incardinated in the Diocese of Des Moines  in 2017 and now serves as Pastor of both Saint Mary’s Churches in Shenandoah and Hamburg. Fr. Tom is one of the six siblings with two religious Sisters  in the family.