&nbsp;
The entire Fike family welcomes you to join us to celebrate the remarkable life of Tom Fike. We look forward to seeing you.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Where: Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley
&nbsp;
When:&nbsp;Monday, June 30, 11:00 am - 3:00 pm. Program: 11:30 am. Reception to follow.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Please RSVP by clicking the link below.
&nbsp;
A SPECIAL REQUEST: 
Sarah may join us at the event. For her peace of mind, please refrain from offering Sarah your condolences about Tom, as it may overwhelm her. We encourage you to remind her of your name. Talk to Sarah about yourself and your family, memories of your time together, and your love for her.&nbsp;

A Celebration of Tom Fike's Life

Annie Alcott

Tom Fike

Andrea Lampros

Sylvia Rosales-Fike

David Fike

John  Fike

Barry Fike

The Life of Tom Fike

Thomas Lyle Fike was the heart and soul of a loving family and Berkeley community, a man who worked for justice and equality and connected with strangers as easily as friends. He lived a full and beautiful life marked by integrity, generosity, passion, and humor. He was always on the right side of history.

Tom was born in San Mateo on August 30, 1931, and died on April 9, 2025, in Berkeley, California, surrounded by his wife, four sons, three daughters-in-law, and eldest granddaughter.

Tom was husband to Sarah Ellen (Barry) Fike; father to Barry, David, John, and Paul; grandfather to Alexandra, Valeria (and husband, Eddie), David (and wife, Kate), Reavey, Aidan, Angie, Melina, and Devin; great grandchildren Nico, Diego, Viktoria, Zoe, and Leo; and father-in-law to Sylvia, Annie, and Andrea. Tom is also survived by his niece Monica Barry Haywood (and her husband Raymond Haywood), nephew Sean Barry, and niece Ann Mason. Tom’s older sister, Marilyn Fike Mason, predeceased him.

Often just called “Fike,” Tom was at the epicenter of a beloved community of friends with many overlapping circles. He excelled at making friends — striking up conversations at the gym or in line at the grocery store — and keeping friends for life. He and Sarah loved to travel with their friends and host them in Berkeley and Mendocino.

Tom was a competitive tennis player as well as a member and former President of the Board of the Berkeley Tennis Club. Later in his life when his legs gave out and it was hard to play, he would still stand at center court and feed a bucket of balls to his grandkids — inadvertently or not, supplying life lessons: Plant your feet and then pivot. Look alive. Keep your form, no matter what’s coming at you.

Tom grew up in San Mateo, the son of Victor Lyle Fike, an upholsterer, and Naomi Fern (Roberts) Fike, a homemaker.

He made deep friendships during his high school years, establishing a lifelong propensity for fierce loyalty to his friends and those he loved.

Just after high school and during the Korean War, Tom was called to military service in Spokane, Washington. During his stint, he served as the public information officer and reporter for his unit as well as the resident tennis star, winning the US Air Force Northwest Tennis Tournament.

Tom started his undergraduate studies at San Jose State University and then the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, before transferring to and completing a B.A. in History at UC Berkeley.

Tom met Sarah Barry in a Russian history class at Cal. He empathized with Sarah who arrived to the Dwinelle Hall lectures late and out of breath, thinking that she must be racing from another class across campus. Of course, he would quickly come to realize that this was Sarah’s first class of the day and she was simply, chronically late (thus the origin of infamous “Fike-time”).

Tom and Sarah married at Berkeley’s St. Mary Magdalene in June 1956. The couple lived in Sunnyvale, San Francisco, and Los Angeles before settling permanently on High Court in Berkeley in 1965.

With four young boys under the age of six, Tom worked full-time at Wells Fargo Bank and attended night school at Golden Gate University to pursue his law degree. In early 1964, he took and passed the California bar exam early — even before finishing law school — and received a standing ovation from his peers in his last law class.

Due to his work and other obligations, Tom did not attend his law school graduation ceremony and skipped picking up his diploma. Some 50 years later, his son, David Fike, was appointed President of Golden Gate University and, upon hearing this story, presented Tom on his 85th birthday with a new diploma and his law school transcript.

In 1964, following a suggestion from their friend Pete Walker, Tom and Sarah purchased a ramshackle house, built in the 1880s, in Mendocino, California. In so doing, they created a legacy that lasts to this day. It is a place of incomparable natural beauty, and the house itself is the site of enduring family bonds and friendships.

The Fike house is stitched into the tapestry of many families and friends who have found respite, laughter, and beauty in Mendocino. Together, Tom and Sarah created a true locus of community.

After graduating from law school in mid-1964, Tom became actively involved with the East Bay Conference on Religion and Race. In December of that year, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) filed a notice with the House of Representatives to challenge the November election in the three congressional districts where Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine, and Victoria Gray ran on the Freedom Ballot. The challenge was based on the fact that the electoral laws and practices in Mississippi at that time prevented a vast number of Black citizens from registering and/or voting freely, the election was fraudulent.

In early 1965, roughly 150 lawyers, including Tom, volunteered to travel to Mississippi to take depositions that later would be presented to Congress as evidence of the fraudulent election. The lawyers’ trips were organized by The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in addition to other leading civil rights organizations. Tom and the other lawyers traveled to the same areas where the three civil rights activists, Cheney, Goodman, and Schwerner, had been murdered just a few months prior. It goes without saying that Sarah feared a great deal for Tom’s safety while he was away and she cared for four little boys at home in Berkeley.

Congress eventually rejected the filing by MFDP to challenge the election. But the depositions taken by Tom and the other lawyers, along with the disciplined non-violent protests led by MFDP, played a key role in the ultimate passage by Congress of the Voting Rights Act just a few months later in August 1965.

The depositions have been safeguarded and are now located in the National Archives. Many of the lawyers who went to Mississippi at this time went on to become politicians and judges, and take on important leadership positions in their communities. Many who were interviewed later in life about their experiences, including Tom, said they felt it was some of the most important work they ever did.

As a leader in the Bay Area civil rights community, Tom later hosted Fannie Lou Hamer during her visit to the Bay Area.

Because of his work with the East Bay Conference on Religion and Race, Tom was recruited to lead the Alameda County Legal Aid Society in a more progressive direction, leveraging significant resources for serving low-income communities newly appropriated as part of the federal government’s “War on Poverty.” At Legal Aid, one of Tom’s many accomplishments was to sue the Oakland Fire Department to successfully force them to allow women firefighters in their ranks. Around this time, he also co-chaired the Justice on Bay Area Rapid Transit (JOBART), which protested BART’s hiring practices and successfully pushed the agency to agree to a model affirmative action program. Also, around this time, Tom reportedly gave Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale his first paid community organizing job.

In 1971, after leading the Legal Aid Society for several years, Tom started practicing law for the Alameda County Public Defenders out of their Oakland and Berkeley offices. In 1975 Tom left the Public Defender’s office and worked in private practice out of the Tribune Tower in Oakland. He later moved to a different private practice firm in downtown Oakland and eventually began practicing more civil law than criminal law. In addition to serving countless clients from diverse communities throughout the Bay Area, Tom served as legal counsel to friends, family and others in need — often providing support without fanfare or pay.

Tom coached several of his son’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) sports teams and fostered their lifelong love of team sports. He also demonstrated competitiveness and camaraderie by playing basketball, running multiple marathons, and playing tennis throughout his life.

Year after year, Tom hosted pre-game gatherings at the High Court house for Cal Football, which always consisted of him grilling “Fike Dogs.” Later, the pre-Cal game festivities migrated to the parking lot behind Boalt Hall, a shorter walk to Memorial Stadium. Raising his sons to follow Cal sports helped them, as John put it, “not be too attached to the outcome of a game, and be okay with losing.”

Tom bought a 1954 cherry-red MG convertible in the mid-1960s and enjoyed it when it was still running. He would sometimes take his boys out around town with the top down. After close to three decades of the MG being buried in the garage, Tom had it restored and periodically drove it at events like the Solano Stroll and Fourth of July parade in Mendocino. It created an even greater sense of pride when it became a family tradition for his kids and grandkids to drive the MG away from their wedding ceremonies.

Tom was hugely proud of his grandchildren, who called him “Grandpa” or “Papa.” He loved to receive and wear t-shirts and caps from their colleges, frequently proclaiming one school his favorite, based solely on who was in the room or what he was wearing at the time.

He would often take or pick up the grandkids from school or meet them for lunch at the Cheeseboard. Vacations with Grandpa to Disneyland, Hawaii, and Santa Cruz are unforgettable memories, as were his unannounced visits when a few of his grandchildren lived on the East Coast because, as he would say, “I loved seeing their surprised little eyes.”

He consistently and generously followed the adage “if Papa goes, Papa pays,” picking up the tab for extended family restaurant meals, bagels for a weekend brunch, Chinese food takeout for the family, and even the turkey for Thanksgiving meals.

Tom’s love of life could never be contained. His passion, emotionally expressed in countless settings — when rooting for the Cal Bears, barking at his kids to “KNOCK IT OFF” when rough play or arguments got out of hand, shouting when he couldn’t find his glasses, or fighting for the “underdog” — was aptly captured in his favorite and often-worn t-shirt, which read: “I Yell Because I Care!”

He carried this passion until the end and to now, and as one of his sons said, “He’s everywhere, in us and all around us.”

When words can't fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalized gifts, keepsake jewelry and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and will purchase more in the future.!"

Hearing Tears

"Beautiful flowers, I've always enjoyed sending them to my love ones for sympathy and they have always love them very much Thanks for making people feel good when receiving them."

Sympathy

"This was true to the photo and good to know family took arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement.  Perfect size for service.

Some of the great things our customers say about us

We're here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the services & home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Baskets

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Condolence Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalized Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed using durable, weather-resistant aluminum designed for indoors and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honor the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more with customizable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life’s story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime without any hidden costs or subscription traps

One time payment

Keeper is SOC2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We bring your QR Codes to any corner of the globe

Worldwide Shipping

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honor their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re built to withstand outdoor elements and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

CANADA

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Baskets & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keepers Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our Partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Through your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. When the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member that created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other Settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all images and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is a part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually

Delete Users from Brands?

Users Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, Guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Flagged Content is turned OFF, content that has been flagged will remain public until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

If Flagged Content is turned ON, content that has been flagged will be hidden until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

Hide Flagged Content

Language

Email Notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the Memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete Memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, Memorials will automatically be published.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, Memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests center.

Memorial Request Moderation

Moderation Settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organization.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organization’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.) 

Tom Fike Obituary | Keeper Memorials