By Chris Mayhew
Enquirer staff writer

ALEXANDRIA - Thomas Barone was in the business of fixing televisions since he started his own business in his father's basement at the age of 16.

Barone, owner and operator of Tom's TV Service on U.S. 27 in Alexandria for 36 years, died Tuesday from complications of diabetes. He was 61.

"He started when he was 16 years old in his dad's basement," said his ex-wife Carol Barone of Alexandria. "His dad sent him to an electronics school because I guess regular school just wasn't his cup of tea."

Barone was born and raised in Newport's Spaghetti Nob area on the same street as his grandparents until the family moved to Alexandria when he was 12.

"After his retirement, his dad Albert (Al) came and worked with Tom," she said. "He adored his father."

Most televisions are thrown away instead of fixed now, but Barone could fix anything electrical or mechanical, his ex-wife said.

"He was a genius at electronics or anything that he tackled," she said.

In the early 1960s, Barone was the disc jockey for "canteen" dances after Friday night football games at Campbell County High School.

"He loved his music and was very proud of his deeds up at the high school," she said.

The women who organized the dances bought all the 45 records for Barone to play, and gave them to him after they dissolved the canteen committee, his ex-wife said.

He passed on the love of music to both of his sons, she said.

"Marc's first word was 'record,' not 'mom' or 'dad ' " she said. "When he went to college he could name all the songs from his dad's era."

He also passed on the love of fixing things. His son David, of Alexandria, is a certified master mechanic, she said.

"He knew how to work on the old stuff, and his son David knew the newer mechanics, which Tom didn't care for."

Marc, of Crescent Springs, is an assistant golf pro at Triple Crown Country Club in Boone County.

Other survivors include his mother, Rosemary J. Barone of Alexandria; a daughter, Donna Stone of Erlanger; a brother, Dan of Lakeside Park, and one granddaughter.

Services have been held. Burial was in Alexandria Cemetery. Alexandria Funeral Home handled arrangements.

Memorials: American Diabetes Association, 1941 Bishop Lane, Suite 110, Louisville, KY 40218.

E-mail cmayhew@enquirer.com