Tom Poellinger was the first of five children born to Tom Sr. and Mary Poellinger in La Crosse in 1961. His parents raised his brothers Jim and Brian and his sisters Carleen and Lollie at their family home in Chipmunk Coulee just south of La Crosse. He attended grade school at St. Pius X and graduated from Aquinas in 1979, having formed life-long friendships with Mike Hess, Tim Schams, Dave Craig, and Tom Albrecht. In October of 1986, He met his future wife Sandy at the wedding reception of their mutual friends Lori and Bill Buchner. Sandy and Tom married in May of 1991 at St. Pius X Church. She works as an RN at Gundersen Health System. They have three children—Nick, Christopher, and Emily—all of whom are graduates of Aquinas High School. Tom works for Poellinger Electric Inc., their family business, with his brothers Jimmy and Brian. Their father Tom Sr. started the company out of the basement of their family home in 1970. Tiny (Tom, Jr.) worked for the family business at an early age, helping his dad, who paid him 25 cents an hour. In 1984, he graduated from the Wisconsin Bureau  of Apprenticeship four-year electrical apprentice program and currently holds Minnesota Class A Master Electrician, Wisconsin Master Electrician and Wisconsin Electrical Designer licenses.  Some of their note-worthy projects include the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Cass and Cameron Street Bridges, Woodman’s Grocery, the La Crosse Center South Hall, the La Crosse County Justice Center, and UWL’s Centennial Hall and campuswide site lighting. At Aquinas, they’ve done work on the score boards, gym lighting, batting cages, and the recently renovated auditorium. Presently, Tom serves as a member of MMOC Parish Finance Committee, MMOC Building Our Future Together committee, Wisconsin Associated Builders and Contractor’s apprentice committee member. He has also spent many years volunteering for Shelby Youth Ball and STARS of Tomorrow Ball, forming many good friendships and lot of good memories. In his free time, he enjoys photography, fishing, hiking and biking in local and state parks, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.