- Date Of Death: October 29, 2013
- State: Indiana
Thomas Isch 73, of Ft. Wayne, passed away Tues. Oct. 29, 2013 at the Hospice Home after an extended illness. Tom was the son of the late Edward and Ozema “Peggy” Isch of Portland. He was also proceded in death by his brothers, Jim and Richard as well as his sister Mary Maxine “Tootsie” Cook.
Tom purchased Plymouth’s Capital Speedway in 1989 and in 1991 he took over as promoter of the Avilla Motor Speedway and began leasing Baer Field Speedway in 1993. With Baer Field running Friday nights, Avilla on Saturdays and Plymouth on Sundays, Tom simultaneously operated all three tracks and two sanctioning bodies. He sold the Plymouth Speedway in 1994 and operated Avilla until the track closed at the end of the 1995 season. Tom operated Baer Field Speedway nearly three times longer than any other person in the tracks 50 year history. he made several upgrades to the track over the 20 years he was operator. He had been inducted into the Avilla Hall of Fame in 1995, and will be inducted in the Baer Field Hall of Fame on May 20, 2014; the opening night of the 2014 season.
He is survived by his wife, Peggy and his four daughters, Angie (Clint) Medley, TN, Cindy (John) Drysdale, PA, Julie (Craig) Kosac, VT, and Cassy (Craig) Liechty, KY. Also by his Step-daughters Heidi Cisco) Monsivais and Charity (Brian) Prather both of Ft. Wayne. He also leaves his sister Pati (Tom) Jackson, Jeannie (Dick) Norris and Pauline (Don) Haines and his brother Paul (Anita) Isch. He also leaves behind 16 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
