From Poverty to Glory: Growing Up in the Great Depression

Tom Sprague was reared in rural Barry County, Michigan during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He still lives with his wife of 62 years, on the farm purchased in 1955, just six miles from his birthplace. Tom and his wife attended a one room country school through the eighth grade before going to a consolidated high school. Tom served four years in the United States Air Force during the Korean War. During his military service and after returning home he attended college. Tom then worked as an Industrial Engineer before starting a full-line sporting goods retail business in 1968. In 1974, Tom was elected to the Who’s Who in Michigan in the field of business and economics. In 1983 he sold his business and retired. Still too young to call it quits, he started a part-time accounting business that soon became full time. He retired again at age 62. Tom then wrote his book from Poverty to Glory. Tom and his wife now spend their leisure time traveling, hunting, and fishing throughout North America.