Most of this information is via Bonnie Carol. Added details from Thomás Cummings, who was with Tom in Hawaii, follow.

New Years Day brought a call from Tom's parents, June and Dick in Albuquerque. They let us know that Tom had fallen off a cliff and been killed, that they wanted to have the information distributed to his friends here in Boulder and beyond.

Thomás and Cindy Cummings, their baby Lili and Tom had been car camping for the last week on the big island, Hawaii. The weather had been beautiful, they were sleeping under the stars by the surf most nights," warm breezes," they were "in heaven" and Tom D. spoke often of how much he loved all this. This last week was "heaven," says Thomás and it was "incredible", the "happiest week" of both Tom's lives.

The night of the accident, they arrived at the appointed campsite for the night later than they hoped, and ended up choosing an alternate location. It was a beautiful spot, near a lighthouse, with a view of Haleakala Volcano, north across the water on Maui. They built a fire and were playing music and sitting by the fire. It was dark, and Tom got up to stoke the fire and slipped from view. He had fallen down a 27 foot cliff to the rocks below; Thomás ran to him. Tom was unconscious, with a good heart beat, and with a serious head wound. He drifted in and out of consciousness over the next hour or so.

Thomás called 911 immediately (at 7:18 PM) on a cell phone (they had coverage at the accident site), and a helicopter and ambulance were dispatched. Thomás and Cindy remained on the line receiving instructions from the medics about how to care for Tom until help arrived. It was about a half hour until the medics arrived walking (running?) down a four wheel drive road, eventually picked up by strangers in a pickup. The medics worked to stabilize him at the site, put him on a back board, transported him a mile by four wheel drive pickup (again driven by the strangers) to the helicopter. The medics gave him an IV, his heart stopped and they used an epi shot and pacemaker to try to revive him which worked temporarily. He was intubated with a respirator. I'm sure I'm not getting all the details, spellings, etc. just right. The medics transported him by helicopter to the big island hospital. It was an hour's drive by car for Thomás and Cindy to the Big Island hospital and by the time they arrived he had passed.

Another friend returned to the site of the accident, and with found driftwood, created a marker with Tom's name and date. He also covered the fire circle so others won't use it and be in a similar danger, as it's too close to the edge of the cliffs. Chris Zorn is with Thomás and Cindy in Hawaii.

Tom's parents, June and Dick, want to be part of the memorial here in Boulder, don't want to have several ceremonies - ours and theirs will be together, and they would be happy to have it happen soon. They want it to be how Tom would have wanted it. Tom's sister, Patty, is coming from Seattle, and June's sister is coming as well. At last talk, they were thinking they would be in Boulder by late in the week, staying with relatives in Boulder. There is the hope that the memorial can be in the following week or ten days, depending on how quickly we can put together a location and arrangements.

from Thomás Cummings:

Our friend Mick Castillo, who lives in Hawi on the big island, was present throughout the entire evening. He knew Tom from when he lived in Ft Collins and went to yearly 'Sultan's palace' gatherings with Tom and Cindy and I, and then he was a co-best man along with Tom at our wedding here on Oahu about 3 years ago. Mick went with us to this beautiful campsite, known only to local surfers and fishermen.

Mick and I stayed with Tom throughout the attempted rescue, he held him up, spoke soothing words to him, kept him from moving too much as did I. We all together helped put Tom on the backboard and bring him up the cliff. While the EMTs were working hard trying to stabilize Tom to be able to put him on the helicopter (the copter is small so they explained he needs to be stabilized because they cannot perform CPR while in flight). Mick held the flashlight for all to see, helped comfort Tom, while I held Tom's hand, helped comfort him, and assisted the medics (I have training in EMS but it is quite old now). Mick drove with us to the hospital and stayed the night with us, helping us pack Tom's things the next day (no easy task, so sad).

Mick has returned to the site every night now to work on the monument. The night following the accident, Mick went to the campsite in Pololu Valley (northernmost tip of the big island) where Tom, Cindy, Lili and I had spent the night and day before we went to join Mick and go to the site. Mick found the driftwood there to build the cross, knowing that it was at that site that Tom exalted his love for the stars, waves, and ocean. And as you put it, he did then also fill in this huge fire pit, with a truckload of dirt so others would not be hurt.

Tom and the rest of us were eagerly anticipating seeing Haleakala in the sunrise light on that night that Tom stepped off of heaven on earth into heaven on high.