Thomas James Hart Jr.

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Thomas James Hart, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, cousin, and friend. All who knew him enjoyed his quick wit and ready smile, his ability to genuinely connect with friends and patients alike, and a shared interest in politics, travel, and sports. Even at the end, when his Parkinson’s was its most challenging, he greeted everyone with a clever sense of humor, telling his care providers during his final week that he would miss their get-togethers.

Tom died on December 15th, 2025, in the comfort of his home in Lake Oswego, Oregon, surrounded by his family. He was born July 17, 1937, in Austin, Minnesota, to Thomas J. Hart, Sr., and Elsie Sauer Hart. The oldest of five children, he was brought up in a series of small towns during World War II—1st grade in Weaverville, California, and 2nd and 3rd grades in Valley City, North Dakota, and then moved to Brookings, South Dakota, in the 4th grade. He graduated from Brookings High School in 1955 where he had been the student body president and first noticed his future wife, Dianne.

Tom received his B.A. in Natural Science from St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, in 1959, and graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis in 1962. After completing a rotating internship at Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, 1962-63, he later did a two-month locum tenens in Ely, Minnesota.

As a Lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Naval Reserve on active duty from 1963-65, he saw two years of sea duty. The first year, he was aboard the USS Norfolk, DL-1, home ported in Norfolk, Virginia; the second year, he was squadron physician for four ships in the LST Squadron COMLANSHIPRON NINE in Yokosuka, Japan. He received a service medal in the Vietnam War.

In 1966, he was in general practice in North Hollywood, California, purposely not far from Dianne Walta, who was teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District. On July 2, 1966, he married Dianne in Brookings, where they both had gone to high school. Then he completed obstetrics and gynecology residency at the University of California, Los Angeles, from 1966 to 1970. He completed a six-month endocrinology rotation at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1969. After his residency, he completed a locum tenens in Trona, California, and then worked for six months in 1971 at the Instituto Português de Oncologia de Lisboa in Portugal. His first two daughters, Lisa and Heather, were born in Los Angeles, and his third daughter, Megan, was born in Lisbon.

After returning from Portugal, he began practicing medicine at the Corvallis Clinic, Corvallis, Oregon, where he worked for 30 years, retiring in 2001. He was a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a member of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

He also served as a volunteer physician in St. Lucia, West Indies; Latacunga, Ecuador; Estelí, Nicaragua; and for many years at Hospital CASA, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. He was a kind and generous person, eager to use his skills to help others wherever he could.

He and Dianne lived in San Miguel de Allende part-time from 2000 to 2020, where he made lifelong friends over investments, martinis, margaritas, movies, a little restaurant called El Rinconcito, and a small village named Los Ricos de Abajo. When the pandemic began, he and Dianne returned to Corvallis. In the late summer of 2025, they moved to Lake Oswego to be closer to family.

He was proudest of his three daughters. He treasured the time they had spent in a small cabin at Black Butte Ranch, one they owned with good friends. As the family expanded, the sons-in-law and grandchildren became part of the Black Butte tradition. Traveling the world with Dianne, his family, and good friends filled his years with laughter, good food, crazy translations, and adventures. He was known as Opa or Opi to his grandchildren, as Dr. Tom or Dr. Tomas to many patients, and to many others as Tom, Tommy, or Tommy Hart. He claimed to have studied first-year Spanish for 20 years. Had he been given a chance, he argued, he could have been a world-class golfer, but he would add that few people believed that boast.

He is survived by his wife, Dianne Walta Hart, his daughters Lisa Hart of Los Angeles, Heather Hart and her husband Greg Connor of Lake Oswego, Oregon, and Megan Hart and her husband Michael Bruno of San Francisco; beloved grandchildren Ben Connor, Ellie Connor, Jackson Bruno, and Sydney Bruno; his sisters Marie Mattison and her husband Tom of Minneapolis, and Kathy Guzzo of Bettendorf, Iowa; brothers-in law Greg Walta and his wife Sue and Doug Walta and his wife Trudi; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and many good friends and colleagues with whom he celebrated birthdays and holidays for years.

Preceding his death were his parents and his brothers, Terry and Mark Hart, both of whom died of complications of Down Syndrome. As a result, memorials may be made to their school: Laura Baker School, 211 Oak Street, Northfield, MN 55057 (507) 645-8866.

Tom will be buried at Willamette National Cemetery.

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