For close to 14 years, former Bullion Plaza Cultural Center & Museum Executive Director Thomas “Tom” Foster worked tirelessly to further develop and expand the museum located in a former schoolhouse –  including bringing in a “Story of Copper” mining diorama from the Valley, which saw its grand opening this January.

Along with the diorama, within the last few years Foster oversaw the addition of a mural by artist Patti Sjolin depicting the region’s flora and fauna – and that was just one of the enhancements he brought to Bullion Plaza. A list of his activities on behalf of the museum, and Arizona history, would be extensive - but to mention just one, Foster was also striving to restore a World War I cannon that once sat outside the museum. Now that cannon’s barrel is inside the building, awaiting further restoration.

Guiding the museum since 2010, he was also an active member of the community who earned the Arizona Historical Society’s prestigious Al Merito award. His June 19, 2024 passing will be felt throughout the Globe-Miami community.

On Friday, June 28, starting at 8 p.m., a candlelight vigil will be held at Bullion Plaza in Foster’s memory.

Dr. Jeremy Rowe, author and researcher of photographic history, wrote: “Tom’s passion for history was deep, and his passion contagious. He pulled together exhibits out of thin air. He negotiated for display cases from the Arizona Mineral Museum and cobbled together trailers and volunteers to bring them to Bullion Plaza. He scraped and finagled support wherever he could for Bullion Plaza and his fingerprints are on every room and exhibit in the museum.”

Rowe met Foster in 1979, when Foster was working at the Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott. “Ken [Nelson] and I were doing a demonstration of how to make a Daguerreotype,” Rowe wrote. “Tom was a staff member and volunteered to be one of the subjects for the demo photograph….Tom and I remained friends for the next 45 years, and worked on a broad range of projects in Arizona and in New York City.”

Foster joined the Arizona Historical Society Board in 2013 and was the board’s eastern chapter representative.

One of his projects was hauling up an 1882 steam hoist, piece by piece over several years, from the Harquahala mine in western Arizona. Afterward, recalled Rowe, Foster loaded the pieces onto a truck, brought them back to Phoenix and restored them. That hoist is now at Bullion Plaza, Rowe wrote.

“As part of his life-long fascination with the Titanic, I helped him ID and research radio receipts from the Titanic to the Carpathia,” Rowe added. “A friend’s estate had a couple of framed copies that Tom was helping the family disperse. When we removed them from the cheap frames, the original copies were hidden underneath. The originals eventually traveled with the Titanic exhibitions.

“Tom created an unbelievable legacy for Globe/Miami, and Arizona, in the Bullion Plaza Museum,” wrote Rowe. “Hopefully, his legacy will continue under new director [Phil Stewart] and staff, and with continued support from the city and the state.”