“I loved growing up in Wadsworth. Everything about it was what people now miss about the ‘good ‘ole days,” Tom Rabatin explained on the morning show with Matt and Tina during the show’s Wadsworthian Wednesday segment.
Tom’s experiences at Wadsworth High School was something he’ll never forget. He attributes any successes and achievements to “the great teachers, coaches and teammates I had.” Tom recalled the sports records of the teams from then to now are “unparalleled.”
Tom lived on Walnut Street, went to Franklin Elementary School, then Sacred Heart and Wadsworth Central and High School.
His brother and one of his sisters still live in their second childhood home.
Tom has had a very interesting life. He was the first WHS graduate to get a full scholarship to Ohio State, playing football under Woody Hayes and going to the Rose Bowl twice. Tom now lives in Louisville, Kentucky where he owns two successful businesses.
“I was better prepared for classes at Ohio State because of the teachers we had at Wadsworth High School,” Tom explained. It’s a sentiment we hear often in our studio: teachers in this Wadsworth district really make a difference in the lives of the students they have had in class.
As for other interesting things Tom’s done, he went to a party at the Ohio Governors mansion with Kathleen Sebelius, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, stood in Christopher Columbus’ house in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and survived a close encounter with a tornado several years ago in Kentucky.
“I saw giant tree limbs flying across the road and the incredibly dark sky on I-75 so I drove my car and drove it up against the rock wall and the tornado passed over my car!”
Tom also had a cigar company, met the sheriff of Nottingham, got a patent on a bed bug material along with another Wadsworth resident Bill Kish and more.
Thank you, Tom, for making time for us! It was an absolute pleasure learning about your Wadsworth and beyond history! All the best and looking forward to meeting you in the studio next time you’re in town! -Matt&Tina
