title: Thomas Herlihy
text: Thomas J. Herlihy, Jr. (November 29, 1956 – May 8, 2015) was an American politician and businessman. Herlihy, a Republican, was a resident of Simsbury, Connecticut. He was sworn in as a member of Simsbury's Board of Selectmen on December 7, 2009. Herlihy was the State Senator for the 8th Senatorial District from 1999 to 2009, representing the northwest suburbs of Hartford in the Farmington Valley and Litchfield County in the Connecticut Senate, including the towns of Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, Granby, Hartland, Harwinton, New Hartford, Norfolk, Simsbury, and Torrington.
  
  Biography
  Herlihy was born in Queens, New York and received a B.S. in Education from the University of Hartford. He taught in the Simsbury School District and then worked in the insurance business. In 1983, he started his insurance business in Simsbury: the T. J. Herlihy Insurance. From 1987 to 1990, Herlihy was on Simsbury's Board of Selectmen. In 1991, he was elected to the Board of Finance and served as chairman in 1996. In 1997, he became the State Representative for the 16th Assembly District, a position he held until his election to the Senate. While at the General Assembly, Senator Herlihy was honored by the Connecticut State Firefighters Association for spearheading efforts to provide thermal imaging equipment for fire departments throughout Connecticut. After retiring from the Senate after five terms, Herlihy was once again re-elected to the Board of Selectmen on November 3, 2009. Herlihy died on May 8, 2015.
  
  References
  
  External links
  http://www.4simsburysfuture.com/fullslate.html#TomHerlihy
  http://www.4simsburysfuture.com/tomherlihy.html
  
  1956 births
  2015 deaths
  People from Simsbury, Connecticut
  Politicians from Queens, New York
  University of Hartford alumni
  Businesspeople from Connecticut
  Educators from Connecticut
  Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives
  Republican Party Connecticut state senators
  Educators from New York City
  20th-century American businesspeople