In Memoriam- Thomas W. Seidel

Tom Seidel at the opening of the Al-Marah Arabian Horse Galleries.

The Kentucky Horse Park and the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation recently lost a very dear friend and volunteer, Tom Seidel, who passed away on May 21, 2021.


A beloved fixture at the Kentucky Horse Park, Tom was not only a generous supporter of the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, but he was also one of the Park’s most committed and loyal volunteers.  Tom served in many departments of the Park, establishing friends wherever he went.  Achieving over 10,000 volunteer service hours, Tom shared his talents through docent work in the International Museum of the Horse, through data-entry in the Kentucky Horse Park Volunteer Department, and through editing and proofreading work in the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, just to name a few of his roles.  Tom was also an honorable ambassador of the Kentucky Horse Park at world-class equestrian events.


Tom ‘s early passion was competing and owning hunter/jumpers, including his beloved Bosco. Tom first became interested in the Kentucky Horse Park in the mid-1980s when he saw footage from the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event on PBS.  He was living and working near Sacramento, CA, but he made arrangements to vacation to Lexington for Rolex and quickly fell in love with the grounds, the people, and of course, the horses.


When Tom retired from his position with the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, where he started as a crime analyst and later became a property warehouse manager, he made the decision to move to Lexington to be close to the Kentucky Horse Park.  He started volunteering almost immediately and his commitment to the Park was unwavering.


Tom reaffirmed his passion for the Park in 2011 when he made the decision to join the Champions’ Circle Society, the planned giving recognition society of the KHPF.  His gift established The Thomas W. Seidel Gallery located at the International Museum of the Horse.


Tom’s health prevented him from regularly volunteering the last few years, but he continued to make his best effort to attend events at the Park to show his support.  The Kentucky Horse Park and Kentucky Horse Park Foundation are indebted to Tom for his friendship, service, and generosity to his beloved Kentucky Horse Park.