ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) mourns the passing of Tom Perrault, who served as the UMAC Coordinator of Football Officials since the first year the conference became a NCAA Division III member in 2008. Perrault was the longest-tenured UMAC Coordinator of Officials for any sport.
 
“Tom will be dearly missed not just as an advocate of officials and leader in our area for officiating, but he will be missed as a valued friend and impactful mentor to many,” said UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt. “Tom did a fantastic job growing our football officiating staff over the years and continuing to develop and advance the level officiating in many different facets. His passion for officiating was infectious as he cared deeply for those he worked with and for the officials he helped create opportunities for as they advanced on in their craft.”   
 
Serving as the officials coordinator for both the UMAC and the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (MIAC), Perrault grew the UMAC/MIAC varsity officiating staff to over 70 individuals with another 50-plus officials on the junior varsity roster.
 
Perrault had a passion for DIII athletics since his time as a collegiate basketball student-athlete at the University of St. Thomas. He began his officiating career with the Catholic Athletic Association (CAA) in the late 1960’s. Starting in 1971, Tom began a 32-year career as a football and basketball official for NCAA DII and DIII. In 1991, Perrault also started working DI football games in the Big Ten. He officiated three bowl games in his career.

After retiring from officiating in 2003, Perrault began working as an official game scorer for the Gophers Men’s Basketball team and as an Official Game Timer for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx, University of St. Thomas, and Big Ten Football. He continued to serve in all of those roles, in addition to his roles as the UMAC and MIAC football coordinator, until his passing this month.
 
Mass will be held at 10 am, Tuesday, February 4 at Church of the Assumption. 51 W. 7th St., St. Paul, with visitation beginning at 9am. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to West 7th Street Boys Club, Second Harvest Food Shelf, or a charity of your choice.