Although Tom was born and raised in Buffalo, NY, he is a Texan at heart. He moved to Texas in the late seventies and met his wife Jill in Houston. They married in 1979, and together they moved to Austin in 1981. After he finished his degree at The University of Texas at Austin, Tom and Jill started their family in 1985. They were first blessed with their son Will and then 2 years later were again blessed when Sam arrived on the scene. Tom and Jill raised their boys on the north shore of Lake Travis in Point Venture and spent many hours together skiing, knee boarding and wake boarding on the lake. Starting in the insurance business in 1989 with owning his own Farmers agency, Tom sold that business in 2005 and opened Dowd Insurance as an independent agency. Tom is a Certified Insurance Counselor. Besides running the agency, Tom enjoys listening to all styles of music, has a green thumb for indoor gardening, loves reading (especially theology) and serves the community at Celebration Church.