Obituary — Thomas Hamilton Bedecarré,
January 17, 1956 – March 29, 2025

(Apr. 18, 2025) — Seniors in the Mt. Diablo High School class of 1974 voted Tom Bedecarré “most likely to succeed.” He didn’t let his classmates down while establishing himself as a brilliant internationally renowned entrepreneur and advertising executive dubbed “Silicon Valley’s Favorite Adman” by Fortune magazine.

Bedecarré died March 29, aged 69, in his Woodside home after a tenacious four-year battle with an aggressive brain tumor.

A person with an enormous list of achievements, accolades and awards, moT (as he signed his early school papers at Queen of All Saints School) was funny, caring, loving, generous and devoted to his family and countless friends.

Tom’s wicked sense of humor never left him. His hilarious stories, observations and retorts were something family, friends and colleagues knew were always just a moment away.

A fourth generation Bay Area resident, Tom was the fourth of John and Catherine Reid Bedecarré’s six children. Born and raised in Concord, he was a star 140-pound linebacker (dubbed “The Mad Stork”) on the 1972 league champion Mt. Diablo High football team and two-year student body president with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Bucking a family tradition with UC Berkeley, he chose Stanford, beginning his lifelong love affair with the university. Bedecarré spent one college summer in Washington, D.C. as an intern for California congressman Leon Panetta, who would later serve as secretary of defense, director of the CIA and White House chief of staff.

After graduating from Stanford, Bedecarré enrolled in the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago to pursue an MBA and then landed a job on Madison Avenue in New York City in 1981.

There he met Margaret (Maggie) Geoghegan. Tom and Maggie were married on June 23, 1984 in Georgetown, CT. Their love affair and 40-year marriage were a true partnership. When the couple moved back to the Bay Area, they had twin daughters Kathryn Anna and Madeline Reid in 1987 and son John Peter a year later.

In San Francisco he worked at Hal Riney & Partners as vice president, account supervisor where he became friends with other young ad men who formed Citron Haligman Bedecarré with Bedecarré as chairman, a leadership position he would hold throughout the remainder of his illustrious career.

As the world began to change with the rising popularity and power of the internet, Bedecarré made the visionary decision to position CHB as a digital agency, a term not widely in use at that time.

CHB became the largest independent ad agency in San Francisco and grew to $100 million in annual billings. In 2001, Citron Haligman Bedecarre took a $71 million investment to build the digital agency of the future and then merged with London-based AKQA with co-founder Bedecarré as CEO.
AKQA began to expand throughout Europe and America and into Asia and South America. Among their long-time clients were Nike, Visa, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Microsoft and McDonald’s.

Bedecarré took immense pride in being a bridge between Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley, including introducing Facebook and Twitter executives to his clients to begin relationships that reshaped marketing. Bedecarré’s insights were shared with his 160,000 Twitter followers and 83,000 on LinkedIn.

Advertising veteran CEO Jack Rooney, who knew him for over 40 years, says, “Tom is one of a handful of pioneers who guided the advertising industry into the digital revolution. Tom was the principal leader of the industry in Silicon Valley.”
In 2012 AKQA was purchased by WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency holding company, for $540 million. Tom’s responsibilities expanded to include WPP Ventures president. In 2013 he was named a national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Interactive Advertising Bureau President and CEO Randall Rothenberg says, “When the history of this period in marketing, advertising and media is written, Tom will be not just a chapter, but a recurring biographical theme throughout the work.”

His advertising career effectively ended when Maggie suffered a serious injury during a 2015 horseback riding competition. Tom focused his energy on bringing his wife back to health.

Following his 2018 retirement, Bedecarré turned his talents to teaching, lecturing and mentoring students at his beloved Stanford.

In fall 2022 he culminated his backyard hobby growing enormous pumpkins with a sixth-place finish for his masterpiece 1251-pound pumpkin at the annual Half Moon Bay World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off.

Tom Bedecarré is survived by his wife Maggie, daughters Kate and Madeline (Adrien Darchez) and their children, Myrtille and Valere, and son John.
He had five siblings John Jay, Catherine Diane (Henry White), Corrinne Marie, William Clark (Nancy Garrett) and Albert Pierre (Claire Ernst). He was predeceased by his parents John and Cathy and sister-in-law Jill Bedecarré.

Donations in Tom’s memory can be made to Catholic Charities in Portland, Maine. Visit the bedecarre.family website for more about Tom’s life.