Tom J Garcia was born on October 6, 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He was the 2nd child of Celso and Justita Garcia. Tommy, as his family called him, had a highly successful advertising career as a commercial director in both Los Angeles and New York City.

Tommy's parents lived near Broadway in Albuquerque when Tom was born. Celso, Justita, Bobby, Tom's older brother, and Tom moved to their 62nd Street house on the westside in 1954 when Tommy was six years old. Tom attended Lavaland Elementary, John Adams middle school, and then graduated from Rio Grande High School in 1965. After graduation Tom attended UNM and received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. From there Tom joined the US Military in the Navy Maritime Branch. Tom was stationed in many countries while in the Navy, including Japan which was his favorite Naval base. After serving his country, Tom moved to Los Angeles and was hired by an Advertisement Agency. After several years living in Los Angeles, he moved to NYC and continued his career in advertising. That was 1978, and he ended up becoming a true New Yorker through and through. He spent the next 27 years living in Manhattan working in the advertisement industry as a director of television commercials. He was hired by CBS and worked with many top actors and artists throughout his career. Tom was an avid Broadway theatre goer as well as taking in concerts of top musical Motown artists, which was his favorite musical genre. Tom's brother, Tony, came to live with him in NY in1985. They were roommates for the next 20 years until their father, Celso Garcia passed away in 2005. Tom left New York and returned to Albuquerque in 2005 to help take care of his mother, Justita. He was hired by an Advertising agency in Albuquerque as a television commercial director. Tom was a devoted caretaker of his mother, along with brothers George, and Tony. After Tony passed away in 2019, Tom and George cared for their mother until she passed away in 2024. Tom has always made the best of his circumstances and was content wherever he found himself and found so much joy in life. He was blessed to be graced with the knowledge of God and sought him through prayer and mass throughout his life. He will be sorely missed by everyone who was fortunate enough to call him friend, brother, or uncle. Tom is survived by his brother George Garcia, sister-in-law Anna Salazar, niece Deanna and husband Mark Estrada and their children Mikal-Celso and Nya and many more nieces and nephews.