Shirley and Harry Tomsic

Whether it’s dreaming up better ways to rebuild the carburetor on a ’57 Chevy or figuring out how to get to the finish line first, Harry and Shirley Tomsic both know what it takes to get the job done.

“Never give up – that’s the most important thing life has taught me,” says Shirley. It’s a principle she’s relied on while racing cars at Westwood and as a competitive mountain biker, where her grit won her three gold medals at the World Senior Games. Harry, too, has reaped the rewards of staying the course. He spends his spare time restoring classic cars back to their former glory, including a 1966 XKE Jaguar (pictured here) that was so rusted it was broken in two pieces when he first got it. Restoration is rarely a quick fix – he’s been working on some of the cars in his garage for more than two decades – but nothing beats the satisfaction of finally taking these beauties out for a spin and showing them off to other auto aficionados at local car shows.

Harry and Shirley realize that you have to put the wheels in motion in order to move forward, and that’s reflected in their support of Knowledge: “When we had our wills done we decided to become legacy givers. We both feel really warm about doing that. We want to give back because Knowledge is just so good. We want it to keep going, and we know it will if we help out.”