Difference between "is dead" and "was dead"

[Johncheung860]

Maybe this is a simple dump question. ('') But in my mind I think

1) after "dead" , it happened --> "was dead"
2) after "dead" , it is a truth/fact --> "is dead"

Both 1) and 2) are true at the same time,

so, after someone, say, Tom, died, should I say "Tom is dead" , "Tom was dead" or else.

Thanks.

[Sureshvemuri]

I think like this:
Is dead = When we/you stand at the dead person or are at the place, and telling about "Tom", we can use is dead.
Was dead= After this happened, when talking to others, we use "Tom was dead. We need to talk to his family"

[Barb_D]

Use "was dead" to refer to a time in the past when the actual death occurred before THAT.

When we got there, he was (already) dead. I didn't kill him!

Yesterday, we were very sad to get home to find that our beloved goldfish was dead. He died while we were away for the weekend, because I remember that he was swimming around as we left.

No, cavemen didn't have dinosaurs as pets! Dinosaurs were dead long before the cavemen!

For any reference to the present situaton, use "is dead."

I'm sorry, Peter can't come to the phone right now. I'm afraid he's dead. Sure, you can call back later, but I don't think he'll be available then either.