Thom Shipley Story

Harper’s Unsung Heros June 2023 Written by Gale Fischer

Have a Little Faith

“In faith, there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don’t.

—-Blaise Pascal

There are many among us who rely on faith to navigate through the peaks and valleys of life. Faith can provide a guide in making decisions and in actions. It can be that cog that provides balance in life when one’s emotions are running too high or too low. Everyone’s faith is at varying levels. Whether or not there is a higher power responsible for everything in our world that cannot be explained, the influence of faith is hard to deny. Sometimes trusting that things will be ok becomes a preferred option, regardless of circumstances. This month’s Harper Unsung Hero, Thom Shipley, has relied on his faith for as long as he can remember. It is and has always been an important part of his life.

Thom grew up in the church. His recollection is that it was a huge part of his family dynamic. “I can remember our family involvement in church from an early age. My parents, aunts, uncles and other adult members of my extended family served in various roles in the church.” 

The church may have been an integral part of Thom’s childhood but athletics played an equally important role in his upbringing. Perhaps these two sectors worked in tandem. Thom was brought into our world in 1971 right here in Battle Creek. He spent much of his childhood participating in whatever sport was offered each season as he made his way from Urbandale Elementary, to Northwestern Junior High and finally to Battle Creek Central where he excelled as a high school athlete. 

Thom started early in organized sports as a preschooler. “I loved to play all sports. I started taking golf and swim lessons at the age of three. I was a competitive swimmer and diver through ninth grade."  Thom proved himself early on to be an all around athlete. “I also played tennis at Northwestern Middle School through ninth grade.” Thom became familiar with the hardwood as a middle school student but gave up basketball in ninth grade. At that time Battle Creek Central had a solid group of basketball players whose size and athleticism was too much for Thom to compete against.  Thom also spent many fall seasons with his teammates on the gridiron. “I played football in middle school and high school. I did give up football one year in high school to join the golf team.”  One year of golf seemed to be enough for Thom and he returned to the football team the next season. He may have been one of the smaller athletes on his team but this did not prevent him from leading his team as the quarterback. 

Thom proved himself to be a well rounded athlete from the age of three all the way through his senior year at Battle Creek Central. His natural ability, his need to be active and his spirituality all seemed to work together to help athletics bring joy and purpose to his life as a young child and teenager. If there was a sport that was offered in Battle Creek for kids, Thom was willing to try it. He seemed to enjoy the moment in whatever he was participating in and eventually others beyond Battle Creek began to take notice of Thom’s athletic achievements. “I started getting letters from college coaches for baseball and football my junior year of high school”. 

Thom was a freshman in high school when he began to understand that there was one sport that he excelled in more than any other, a game which he might be able to play at the collegiate level and beyond. “Around the age of fourteen I began to realize that baseball would be the sport that I could achieve success in at a higher level. I could compete at basketball and football when I was younger but when I reached high school baseball became my favorite sport. My lack of size didn’t create a disadvantage for me as it did in football and basketball.”

Thom played shortstop for Battle Creek Central but his time on the mound as a pitcher was where he made his mark for the  Bearcats. The interest he gained from college coaches raised Thom’s stock as a baseball player but an opportunity the summer after graduating from high school provided him with a chance to play baseball with and against a higher level of competition. “After my senior year I was invited to play with the Maroons, a summer all star baseball team out of Kalamazoo, composed of high school athletes throughout Michigan. We had five individuals from that team go on and play at the minor league level and another, Derek Jeter, who would eventually become a world series champion and Major League Hall of Famer. Derek was fifteen at the time, playing with high school seniors. The Yankees were scouting him already as a fifteen year old and representatives from their organization would come to many of our games.” 

His experience the summer leading into college with the Maroons gave Thom hope that he might achieve his dream of playing baseball at the collegiate level and possibly the next level as well. “Coaches from Michigan, Western Michigan, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan talked to me about playing baseball. I decided on Central Michigan and went there my freshman year as a preferred walk on.”

Having the chance to play baseball for a division one college was an opportunity of a lifetime for Thom, but perhaps for the first time in his life his judgment would become clouded, causing him to make some not so sound decisions. “In my mind I was there to play baseball so I didn’t put the time and effort into my academic load like I should have.”

Not taking his classes seriously would cost Thom his opportunity to play division one college baseball and possibly an athletic scholarship later down the road but his faith would help him realize where he had gone wrong and get him back on track. “Being a student was easy for me in high school but I couldn’t get by with the same study habits at Central Michigan. I became academically ineligible to play because of my grades so I came back home. Fortunately I was able to enroll at  KCC and play baseball for the Bruins.” 

Thom was grateful for the chance to play for KCC and although not what he had planned on it was a blessing to just be able to compete as a baseball player again. He would drastically change his approach to being a student athlete compared to what he had done at Central Michigan. “I learned my lesson from landing on the academic ineligible list at Central Michigan so when I started at KCC I worked harder with my studies.” 

 Thom enjoyed his experience at KCC as an athlete and as a student but another fork in the road was on the horizon with what perhaps would provide the biggest shift at that point in his life. “I was able to play about three fourths of the baseball season before I blew out a knee with a torn ACL in a game. It was a typical baseball play that I had made hundreds of times before but this time my knee buckled. My coach offered me a scholarship to come back and play the next year but I lost my steam as a baseball player.”

Thom came to the difficult realization that although athletics would still be a part of his life, that it was now time to downsize this role. “I knew that making a living as a baseball player was not an option any longer so I decided that it was time to focus on something else and move on without baseball as a focal point in my life . It was difficult because baseball and competing as an athlete had always been a huge part of my existence but I was ready to go on with the next phase of my life.” 

Working with athletes and others in the medical arena was a career path that Thom considered when enrolling at KCC, but after a year he had a change of heart. “I started with the  PT program at KCC but later decided that I wanted to be a teacher. My older brother Todd was a teacher and I had spent some time in his classroom and thought that I might like to do this. I went on to Western Michigan to get my teaching degree.” He preferred working with younger kids and sought a degree to work with elementary age students. “I wanted to teach kindergarten. I did my student teaching at Galesburg Augusta in  Kindergarten, first grade split and loved it. I graduated with a major in elementary education with a ZA endorsement, and minors in math, science and English.”

With his entire school experience at Battle Creek Public from Kindergarten on through graduating from high school it seemed fitting that Thom would start there with his first teaching assignment. “I was hired in with Battle Creek Public in a third, fourth grade split at McKinley Elementary. I enjoyed this. I worked for three years. My second year I taught fourth grade and then went back to third grade my third year.” 

A few years after beginning his teaching career Thom ran into Heather Mahoney, a long time acquaintance, while dining at a local restaurant. He and Heather had known each other since elementary school. “Heather and I first met when I was in third grade. Her mom was my third grade teacher. I had been back in Battle Creek just a short time after graduating from Western Michigan and starting my first teaching job with Battle Creek Public. Heather and I  were both at a restaurant one night but seated at different tables. My cousin, who was our waitress, kind of  set us up.” Thom and Heather went on their first date a few days later. “We went mountain biking on our first date. I knew then that she would be my wife. About a year and a half later we were engaged. We were married in 1996.”

A frightening experience in 1998 led Thom to look for a teaching position in another district. “In my third year at McKinley a guy was fleeing police and ran through our playground during recess time with a gun. After this I decided it was time to look for a teaching job elsewhere.” 

Thom made the transition to a new school quickly. “I interviewed for a job at Lakeview and Harper Creek and was offered a teaching position at Harper Creek. I started out at Beadle Lake Elementary teaching fourth grade the fall of 1998. I later taught sixth grade at Beadle Lake. When Harper Creek moved fifth and sixth grade from the elementary buildings to the Middle School I continued working with sixth grade students as a science and math teacher. About five years later I moved into a seventh grade science position. I eventually moved into eighth grade science and have been doing that for about ten years.” 

 Heather would eventually join Thom as an educator for Harper Creek. She began teaching in 2000 with Battle Creek Public. Later she was hired by Harper Creek in 2008 as a first grade teacher and eventually moved to Kindergarten which remains her current teaching position. 

As Thom and Heather began planning for a family after they were married, both agreed that two children would make the perfect size family for them. They would have their two children soon after Heather began her career as a teacher. “Heather’s mom was a twin and my dad was a twin so we were not surprised when we were blessed with twin boys, Ethan and Elijah, in 2001.”

As an athlete growing up it seemed only natural that Thom would spend some time coaching. “I was a freshman baseball coach for Harper Creek for three years until my boys were born. I also coached Harper Creek rocket football when Elijah and Ethan played.” 

A few years ago Thom and Heather made the transition to empty nesters. Ethan and Elijah moved out on their own and started their own careers not long after graduation from high school. Living as empty nesters didn’t last long for the two of them as their love for family and their faith helped them with a life changing decision. “Heather and I moved in with her mom and dad about two years ago. They were both aging and we were spending much of our time over at their house taking care of them. Eventually we agreed to sell our house and move in with them. This was a big step for us but it was the right decision.” Sometimes life circumstances are difficult to predict. Not many individuals can say that as an adult they would become a son in law of their third grade teacher while later taking on the role of one of their caregivers.

Thom’s faith has been the cornerstone of his life for as long as he can remember. It has helped guide him as a student athlete and helped him to choose his path after with the realization that his competitive days as an athlete had finally come to an end. It has led him through his journey as a husband, father, teacher and now as he and Heather work together to take care of her parents. There may be more to his life than his faith but it appears as though faith has played a part in all of it.