Thomas Nelson Hemphill

Thomas Nelson Hemphill, beloved husband of Susan (Young) Hemphill, loving father of Lisa (Keith) McGill, Susan Joy Hemphill and Betsey Gagliano died peacefully at home of natural causes on May 8, 2025 with family by his side.

Tom was born on September 8, 1931 in Des Moines, Iowa and graduated from Drake University with a degree in journalism and fine art. He developed a keen interest in politics at a young age and was proud of the role the Iowa caucuses played in presidential elections. Growing up during World War II, he acquired a lifelong interest in the force of personalities of political figures such as Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He was equally fascinated by the evil charisma of Adolph Hilter and would read anything with a swastika on the cover.

Tom served in the Navy Reserve. He liked to joke that he participated in the Battle of Narragansett Bay. And he disappointed his more jaded shipmates by spending his shore leave sightseeing in New York.

Tom loved working. Fresh out of college, he was thrilled to get a job at KRNT-TV in Des Moines and quickly worked his way up to become director of a popular Friday night talk show. In that role he met most national politicians of the time as they campaigned in the state, including John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. He left the station in the 1960s to work in advertising, writing for consumer products as well as local political campaigns. In 1969 Tom relocated his family to Baltimore to work at W.B. Doner as a copywriter and creative director. In the early 1980s Tom moved to Philadelphia and became creative director at Kalish and Rice. He stayed with the agency as it was acquired by larger agencies and in his 70s, he retired from Earle Palmer Brown.

Throughout his life Tom appreciated cartooning and had aspired to be a cartoonist. He was known to entertain antsy children at the dinner table by drawing little caricatures on placemats and could sketch a mean Dick Tracy profile. In retirement he took up painting and spent hours in his basement studio listening to NPR or a baseball game and painting landscapes and still lifes for family, friends, and his own pleasure. For many years he volunteered at WXPN’s Free-At-Noon concerts and on Wednesdays he assisted at the Vision Through Art class for blind sculptors at the Allen Lane Art Center. In nice weather when the Phillies had a day-game he would take the train to Citizens Bank Park, buy a standing room ticket and nurse a beer or two. For many years Tom served on the Board of Directors of the Chestnut Hill Community Association.

As a 30-year resident of Chestnut Hill he made friends of many neighbors. And although Tom was a lifelong liberal he was always fair and kind, and respectful to people of all political persuasions.

Tom is survived by his wife, Susan, his three daughters and grandchildren Meghan Esquivel (Ovidio), Caitlin Sprouse (Darrin), Sarah Gagliano (Josh Butcher), TJ (Thomas Joseph) Gagliano, and great grandchildren Hadley, Rory and Dawson Sprouse and Maizie Butcher.

Friends wanting to make a donation in Tom’s memory are encouraged to consider Keystone Hospice in Wyndmoor, Brenda’s Cat Rescue or a local non-profit or arts organization (Wyck Historic House or Woodmere, for example) that has seen committed funding disappear as a result of recent political action. His family and friends will celebrate his long, wonderful, all-American life at a later date.