Another loss for the KR Training family

Last Saturday, the KR Training family lost another close friend and team member: Tom Robertson.

Tom was a former Texas A&M police officer, NRA high power competitor, USPSA competition shooter, and NRA instructor, as well as a former homebuilder and skilled craftsman/salesman in the construction industry. He was a pretty good singer too!

Tom was Penny’s next door neighbor during her PhD years at Texas A&M university, coaching her in NRA high power rifle competition and inviting her to join his friends hunting deer, hogs and birds. He
encouraged Penny to seek out NRA instructor certification, around the time the Texas Concealed Handgun License bill passed, so that she could start offering CHL classes in the Bryan. That’s how Penny and I met, which led a beautiful partnership both at the personal and professional level.

During our dating and engagement period, Tom and his shooter buddies in Aggieland served as Penny’s surrogate big brothers. I eventually passed their evaluation, despite being a t.u. graduate, and Tom was one of my groomsmen at our wedding.

As KR Training grew, Tom took my NRA instructor certification class, started shooting USPSA matches with Penny and I with the local Brazosland Pistoleros club, assisted with beginner classes, and helped us develop some of the original curriculum for the Advanced Training 1 and Advanced Training 2 courses.

After we purchased the A-Zone property (16 years ago from the date of this post), Tom convinced several of his friends & customers into helping make the classroom building a reality, and he spent many weekends with us, assisting with construction of the building, fences, and every other project that needed doing, including teaching me a lot about home building and construction.

Tom’s day job was selling door and window units for Weatherford Door Company, and he would frequently talk about KR Training with his customers, promoting our classes.  Ronald Weatherford, Tom’s boss, was an avid hunter and gun rights advocate who also passed away this month.

Even after Tom’s health declined, he would talk about our classes to the doctors, nurses, physical therapists and anyone else he encountered.

Most KR Training students never met “the T”, but his influence and impact on Penny, me, and KR Training was significant.  He will be missed, but never forgotten.