I've always had an interest in working with wood. As a kid I was always
looking for scrap wood to create something with.(see below)

I couldn't wait to go to High School, where I could take Shop classes and learn more. My Senior year, I actually took 2 advanced Woodshop classes per day, and most lunch hours you'd find me there working on a project.

Woodworking became my passion. I proceeded to build all kinds of things in school, from a stereo cabinet with speakers, to a regulation size solid oak pool table with automatic ball return. My instructor could see how passionate I was, and pretty much let me do my own thing in class, as long as I had completed my required work and passed the tests.

I had no idea at the time that I would be building custom hardwood furniture as my career. I still enjoy it just as much today as I did back then. Maybe more!

Where it all began....
Mr. BeDillon, Department Head, inspects the pool
table built in class by student, Tom Francois
Senior Tom Francois stands with most of the fruits of this year’s labor in his Advanced Woodworking Class at Casa Grande Union High School arrayed behind his parents’ Arizona City home. His efforts have met with the praise of his instructor, Lee BeDillon, who says he’s never seen a student like him. Inset, Tom receives a set of pool balls and cues from David Foote, who saw the pool table Tom built in shop class, while it was being displayed in a local bank lobby.      (Dispatch Photo)

Article - Wednesday, May 1, 1968
A year in Advanced Woodworking for a CGUHS Senior has turned into a most productive session.
Tom Francois, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Francois, Arizona City, has produced a solid oak pool table, a stereo cabinet, three speaker cabinets, two outdoor chaise lounges, a lamp, a phone stand and a night stand during the period, according to his instructor, Lee BeDillon.
“I’ve never seen a student like him,” says BeDillon. “Tom’s a bright kid who not only can produce  the finished product with his hands, but can also conceive the whole idea and present it on paper before it’s ever begun.” And woodworking is not the only interest the draws Tom’s interest. In addition, he’s an able student  in all his classes, and an avid musician, playing drums in a band that has met with some success in Arizona.

May 1968
Age 2 through 10 it was mostly Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and Erector Sets.

Then, age 11, I attempted
to build my first project. I wanted to raise Homing Pigeons like my buddies.

I had to "find" all of the materials for it. Scrap pieces of wood, chicken wire and tin from the surrounding fields was all I could come up with, and I made do.

It looks awful, but it did the job! Next stop: High School