STEEP FALLS- Thomas “Tommy/Tom” Allen Riker, age 53, passed away after an unexpected illness surrounded by his family at Maine Medical Center on January 5, 2026.
Thomas was born on December 20, 1972, in Harbor City, California to parents James and Abigail Riker. He graduated in 1992 from Bonny Eagle High School, where he met his wife, Kate.
During his working years, he primarily worked with concrete. He and his brother, Jason, had a short stint pouring concrete floors as Riker Brothers Concrete when they lived in North Carolina. With the impending birth of his first child, he looked for something more stable and landed at Concrete Supply in Kannapolis. After returning to Maine, he spent the remainder of his years moving from company to company, never planting his feet for too long. He worked for Blue Rock, Auburn Concrete, Hissong Ready Mix, Dayton Concrete and Supply and most recently at Steep Falls Building Supply delivering materials. It was a short stay at SFBS, but oh how he enjoyed it! That place renewed his spirit, and he would come home with stories about his coworkers, the work and his plans to ease into retirement at a place like that. He liked how untethered he could be driving a truck, blasting his music.
One of his favorite pastimes was making funny videos and sending them to family and friends. If you ever received one of these, you knew just how funny he could be. He would sing about anything, change the lyrics to popular songs, record himself and then send that video off to anyone that would watch it, giggling to himself the entire time! He gave everyone he met a nickname: Slifker, Schmavi, Heavy D, Waterboy and Turd just to name a few. He also enjoyed taking care of his in-laws’ home (but equally enjoyed complaining about it too), listening to and performing music, spending time with his kids and grand dogs. He was so proud that there was a Rottweiler, Zara/”the Poopin-A-tor” and poodle, Gia/”Tweety Bird” in the family. He would make funny voices for the dogs and take them on adventures with him. He also enjoyed delivering concrete to various places and remembering every minute detail about things that most of us had long forgotten. If you were EVER special to him along the way, he kept you close and alive with stories from years gone by to his wife and kids, and we feel like we know you even if we have never met. His most favorite pastime was listening to Prince, especially the song “Purple Rain”. He regularly told the story about his cousin, Brenda (who was more like an older sister to him), playing this song for him when they were younger and man, did that leave an indelible mark!
During this time, the family found comfort by this definition: "Purple Rain" by Prince symbolizes an apocalyptic vision where red (blood) and blue (sky) mix to create purple rain, representing a world-ending event, but within that chaos, it signifies love, faith, and spiritual cleansing, as people find solace and guidance through the storm with loved ones. It's a powerful metaphor for overcoming sorrow and pain through connection and belief, even in the face of ultimate despair, often linked to heartbreak and redemption. It explicitly symbolizes a catastrophic event and the end of an era. There is some poetic justice that after 42 years, hearing that song on an eternal loop daily, that his family and friends finally discovered what that song meant, because this certainly has marked a catastrophic event that ends an era!
He was immensely proud of his children the most! He immediately fell in love with his daughter, Myah, the minute she was born. She turned his whole world upside down. When she was in elementary school, he attended every Father/Daughter dance with her, the one thing he never missed! Into her adulthood, they shared a love for dogs and would spend hours talking about different dog breeds and watching videos. He was so proud of how smart she was at training dogs. He would stop everything when she came home and listen to her tell him what she was working on with her dogs. He would spend hours talking about how proud he was that she found her calling. He was in tears to find out that her longtime boyfriend, Owen (Owensk, Orenthall) was going to propose, knowing that she would forever be taken care of. After Myah’s birth, he always said he couldn’t possibly love another baby as much. Thankfully, his wife rarely listened to him, and they welcomed their son, Nicholas! Although he couldn’t always be at all of Nick’s sporting events, he was still proud of how big and strong Nick had become and would mention it often. He would tell anyone that he met what Nick was up to, and he could not be more proud about him going to college, excelling at math (something Tom could never do) and playing football, a sport they both loved. Anyone he ever met got an update on all the things Myah and Nick were doing and that pride was written all over his face!
Tom never met a stranger. He had a great sense of humor and a strong belief in his Christian faith. Tom was known for saying, “We are just passing through. Heaven is our Eternal Home, thanks to God’s grace and mercy!” If you crossed his path long enough, he would get your life story and pray with and for you anywhere, anytime. Tom spent years of his adult life suffering from OCD, anxiety and depression. Family and friends are comforted in knowing that he is no longer suffering and finally rejoicing in Heaven, free from his Earthly bonds!
He is predeceased by his parents and survived by his wife of 27 years Katherine Traver Riker; their children: daughter, Myah and her fiance, Owen Raymond and his son, Nicholas; his grand-dogs: Zara and Gia; his siblings: brother, Jason Riker and wife Melissa and sister, Tiffany MacDonald and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and friends that were more like family!
In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the Animal Refuge League, https://arlgp.org/donate/make-a-donation/ . The family also asks you to discuss organ donation and final resting plans with family members. Because of organ donation, Tom was able to save the lives of three people!
A celebration of life will be held at Skips, 288 Narragansett Trial, Buxton on Saturday Jan. 10, 2026 at 12-5pm. The family requests that you come in pajama bottoms, comfy clothes or your high-vis, because he wouldn’t want us standing around in hard pants! As Tom would want it, this will be an informal, drop-in style service for time to reminisce and pay respects.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service, Buxton, www.mainefuneral.com