Thomas Chamberlin Trauger

August 13, 1963 - December 10, 2020

On Thursday, December 10, 2020 Thomas Chamberlin Trauger, 57, of Las Vegas was killed while riding the 130- mile Nipton Loop with a group of talented and experienced cyclists. A truck struck the back of the group killing Tom, four of his friends and injuring three others.

Tom was born in Würzburg, Germany on August 13, 1963. His family lived in Germany while his father attended medical school. Tom grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and Alta Dena, California. In Madison, he attended Thomas Jefferson Middle School where he participated in a 50- mile run for life and received a patch which he proudly wore to display this achievement. He was also in the West Allis Speed Skating Club. He was passionate about speed skating and approached it like everything else in life, with determination and in this case, aspirations to become an Olympic athlete. Tom’s family moved to Alta Dena, CA where Tom graduated from John Muir High School. Tom then channeled his athletic energy into soccer and ran track and cross country with equal enthusiasm and intensity. Tom graduated with a BS in Accounting from Cal Poly Pomona. He was a member of the Fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon and that was a significant and meaningful part of his college experience.

Professionally, Tom had achieved great success and he was so admired because he was able to combine his love of sport with his love of finance. He was the CFO for Sports Basement in the Bay Area for 14 years. He loved SB, loved the people and loved working there. Every morning he was always up before sunrise with his computer and monitor, running daily dashboard reports for the SB leadership team to review. He was religious about his responsibilities because it was a dream job combining two passions. One of Tom’s passions was triathlon. He was one of the original members of the Every Man Jack Triathlon team in the Bay Area. He loved being pushed and challenged by his teammates and was so strong mentally he would fight for every pedal stroke and every stride of a training day or race. He won his age group in almost every Ironman race and was on the podium at Ironman World championships multiple times at both 70.3 and full Ironman distances. While Tom was always laser focused on getting to the podium, he always made time to help others achieve their personal best.

His laugh was infectious, and he was an easy target for a joke because he laughed at everything. Tom was a leader and mentor. He inspired and touched the lives of so many. He had such a positive outlook on life and lived every day to the fullest.

Tom is survived by his wife Donna ( Las Vegas), together for 23 years; his children Thomas Chamberlin Trauger Jr. and Sarah Woolsey; his parents Susan and John Terry Trauger; his father Walter Matern; his siblings Jim Trauger, John Trauger, Adam Trauger, Barron Matern, David Matern and Amanda Matern. He is predeceased by his brother Matt Matern. He is also survived by his grandson Eli Woolsey and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins, all who loved him dearly. His passing leaves us shocked, lost and devastated. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all who have shown their love and support.

The family requests those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to the Challenged Athletes Fund in Thomas Chamberlin Trauger’s name.

http:// support. challengedathletes. org/ goto/ tomtrauger

A celebration of life will be planned for a later date.