Animal activist succumbs to cancer

Tom Blomquist, cofounder of the Silver Springs Spay and Neuter Project and well-known animal activist in Northern Nevada, wasn't averse to butting heads in order to correct perceived injustices, battles he often won.

On Saturday, Blomquist lost a battle against brain cancer, after keeping it at bay for three years.

His friends remember him as a great storyteller and staunch animal activist who gained a reputation for his outspoken contempt of perceived injustices.

Along the way, Blomquist made a few enemies, but many more friends.

"He was a great guy," said friend Bob Williams, "but he definitely wanted you to know what was on his mind. ... He was just a man who had a mission."

Thomas Kelley Blomquist was born June 20, 1950, in Wichita, Kan., and grew up in Northern California.

He and his then-wife, Lee Blomquist, moved to Lyon County about 1992, where he expected to lead a quiet life selling books over the Internet and studying history. He worked as a bartender to make ends meet.

Almost from their arrival, he went head to head with those who abused animals or looked the other way, including county and state officials.

At that time, the county animal shelter was not enforcing the law that animals older than four months had to be spayed or neutered before being adopted from the shelter.

Largely through the Blomquists' efforts, county officials changed the management of the shelter and created a shelter oversight committee, ensuring the spay and neutering law was enforced.

"I've forced the county to follow laws," Blomquist told the Nevada Appeal.

The Blomquists also founded Silver Springs Spay and Neuter Project to battle the overwhelming problem of abused and abandoned animals.

And then they did more. They turned their home into a licensed rescue shelter where at one time they had 38 dogs inside and outside of a double-wide mobile home in Silver Springs. Lee Blomquist returned to school and became a veterinary assistant and now works for V&T Pet Clinic.

Tom Blomquist also took his battle to the state, lobbying for laws to protect animals against abuse, both pets and livestock.

Although his passion was for animals, he also stood up for the human underdogs of the community, organizing help when an elderly widow was being turned out of the only home she knew, demanding answers when a county official was fired, and serving as a night caretaker for the ailing mother of a friend.

His unflinching activism took its toll on his marriage.

"The day they decided to get divorced, he went driving and found that place," Williams said of the desert property Blomquist dubbed Dead Camel Mountain. It became his respite and home with his dogs Rivers and Truckee.

In early August 2007, Blomquist was diagnosed with a fist-sized brain tumor. After surgery, he recuperated at Williams' house, then moved back to his desert home even though it lacked basics like electricity and running water.

He credited the work just to stay warm and eat as helping to keep him going. Friends also helped. Donated solar panels gave him enough electricity to run a laptop. He started blogging. His website, campingwithcancer.com/wordpress became a place to keep touch with the world and continue his campaign for animal welfare.

Earlier this year, his health again declined and life in the desert became too much to handle.

He moved in with friends, but soon that wasn't enough help. After a stay in Renown Medical Center and treatment for a subdural hematoma, he ended up in Evergreen Healthcare in Gardnerville.

"He stayed a couple weeks," said Vanessa Stuart, who has known the Blomquists since she moved to Nevada in 1995. "We believe he could have stayed longer but it drove him nuts. He said, 'I'll live under a bridge, but I'm not staying here.'"

Another friend gave him the use of an apartment in Reno. In early fall he moved in, alone. His beloved dogs were taken by a friend who promised them a good home.

"He was in tremendous pain the last few months," Stuart said. "Tom was a great storyteller and pretty proficient writer in his day, but over the last year, his blog became fairly garbled. It's not well-written, but an indicator of the progress of the disease."

Sunday morning, Stuart heard from Lee Blomquist that Tom had been found dead Saturday during a welfare check by authorities.

"I will always think of the man who was part vagabond, part wanderer and also a lover of animals," Stuart said. "He was prepared to do anything to gain recognition (for his causes). That's where he was and that's everything he stood for."

"He was also an extremely caring person. He had a really soft side, controversial character in some respects, but he did a lot of home caregiving."

Blomquist is survived by his dogs, Truckee and Rivers, which were most important to him.

A memorial to celebrate his colorful and sometimes controversial life will be at 1 p.m. Jan. 22, at the Senior Center in Silver Springs.