We are saddened to announce that Thomas Neil Tilles (78) of Bethel, CT passed away peacefully on May 18, 2025 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.
Tom was born on March 25, 1947 to Roy & Sybil Tilles in New York City. He spent his childhood in New Rochelle & Rye NY where he graduated from Rye High School and went on to attend Kansas University (Go Jayhawks!). When he graduated college, he went in to a banking management training program and worked at various banks over the years. He went on to work in sales for a few different oil companies. He “retired” in 2000 and ran an eBay business and quickly became a power seller. At one point he had over 17,000 items in his eBay store ranging from vintage post cards, historical ephemera, comic books, sports cards, rare books & tropical fish memorabilia. He was a collector at heart.
He had a love of tropical fish and in his younger years was very active in the Norwalk Aquarium Society competing and winning competitions. He had numerous fish tanks over the years and still had one going up until his passing.
He met his beloved wife Cynthia Dilley Tilles in 1978 on a blind date when he was living in Rye and she was living in Greenwich, CT. They moved to Norwalk, CT and married on September 29, 1979. They soon moved to Bethel, CT to start a family and had two wonderful children Brad & Kerrie.
Tom is predeceased by his wife Cynthia who he is now reunited with. He is survived by his son Brad of Norwich, CT, daughter Kerrie Brinckerhoff & son in law Sean & grandson Drew of Danbury, CT, his brother Roy Tilles & wife Barbara of Plymouth, MA, niece Amy Ackerson & family of Sudbury, MA and nephew Scott Tilles & family of Greenwich, CT.
In lieu of flowers please consider donating to Adopt A Dog of Armonk, NY where Cindy & Tom had rescued their last dog Dolly from in 2022.
