September 7, 1946 – November 16, 2019
Woodside, California
Thomas Peter Thomas, “Pete” passed away peacefully on Saturday morning, November 16, 2019.
Pete was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew up in Malad City, Idaho. He graduated magna cum laude with a BSEE degree from Utah State University and received his MS in Computer Science from the University of Santa Clara. He is a member of Utah State University’s Foundation Board and a recipient of their Distinguished Alumni Award.
Pete was a veteran of the venture industry. His career in venture capital spanned 34 years. Most recently he was co-founder and Managing Director of two companies, PointGuard Ventures and ATA Ventures. In 1985, he joined Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) as a General Partner and continued through IVP’s Fund VIII. Prior to IVP, Pete spent two years at Technology Venture Investors (TVI). Pete’s achievements are represented by a wide variety of successful Public Offerings including Atmel (ATML), @Road (ARDI), Altera (ALTR), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), FormFactor (FORM), Office Club (OCLB), NeoPhotonics (NPTN), Telcom Semi (TLCM), and Transmeta (TMTA) as well as successful M&A of Silicon Light Machines (Cypress Semi), IC Works (Cypress Semi), Nanogram (Teijin), Menlo Care (Ethicon) and others. Prior to venture capital activities, Pete was in industry for 14 years working at GTD EDL, Fairchild and Intel.
Fishing, gardening, hiking, an occasional day at the golf course, photography and ceramics were just a few things that Pete enjoyed doing. He and his wife Jacqueline were seasoned travelers and were able to explore Europe, Asia, Russia, to take safaris in Kenya and to bicycle through Holland, to visit other distant lands as well as traveling within the U.S. Both here and abroad the diverse arts and cultures, the languages, the sights and sounds, the flavors and especially the people and their lives gave Pete and Jackie an opportunity to look deeper into the world at large giving them a better understanding and appreciation of the challenges that we all encounter.
In their travels, Pete and Jackie had opportunities to help individuals or communities. They were particularly involved and instrumental with building schools and other facilities at Lewa conservancy in Kenya.
Pete also looked forward to theatre and musical performances and to visiting the art museums in San Francisco. Most of all, however, he enjoyed being with his grandchildren or just being in the comfort of his home.
Pete is survived by his loving wife Jacqueline Stewart, his son Arthur Thomas, his sister Janesse Baker, grandchildren Maya and Kai, and nephews Tyrell Thomas and Steven Baker, nieces Amy Baker, Becky Blaisdell, and Janie Bright.
Please, In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Lewa Conservancy USA or Trinity Church Menlo Park.
Friends and family are invited to the Funeral Service on Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 10:00 AM, Trinity Church located at 330 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA. Reception to follow.