Dear Neighbors,
We are sad to report the passing of Tom McCaskill, a former resident of Swan Creek Rd. Please keep Tom and his family in your thoughts and prayers.
From The Pilot.com:
Thomas B. McCaskill, 81, of Unionville, passed away
peacefully Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.
Tom was born Aug. 21, 1938, in Lee County, to the late
Clinton and Audrey McKenzie McCaskill. A graduate of Carthage High School, he
received an Associate of Arts degree from Wingate Junior College and a Bachelor
of Science in engineering mathematics (honors) from NC State.
Tom’s professional life included 42 years as a mathematician
and research physicist for the Space Applications Branch of the U.S. Naval
Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He was selected to participate in the
NRL Edison Memorial Training Program and completed all required courses for a
Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Maryland. He was reclassified as a
research physicist. As an NRL scientist, he made key contributions to the
design of GPS. Tom received five NRL Research Publication Awards, one patent.
Tom was a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronic Engineers and a member of the Institute of Navigation. He was
selected by the Institute of Navigation to serve as a Congressional Fellow and
in 2005, he became a candidate for U.S. senator in the Maryland primary election
with the campaign motto: “GPS Saves Lives.”
In addition to his parents, Tom was predeceased by his
infant daughter, Helen Elizabeth McCaskill. He is survived by his wife of 58
years, Helen Jane Latham; sons, Scot Alexander McCaskill, Latham Glenn McCaskill
and his wife, Felicia Kantis, David Thomas McCaskill and his wife, Lisa Sypula;
two grandchildren, Carver Kade McCaskill and Matthew Thomas McCaskill; and his
five siblings, Robert Hugh Martin McCaskill, Frances Elizabeth McCaskill Ward,
Lydia Alice McCaskill Parker, James Clinton McCaskill and John Worthy
McCaskill.
Tom will be remembered by his personal and professional
friends from Washington, D.C., and his dear family and friends in North
Carolina and surrounding states.
The family will receive friends from 4–7 p.m. Friday, Nov.
8, at McEwen Funeral Home of Monroe. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 9, at Union Presbyterian Church, 2000 Union Church Road,
Cameron, with the Rev. Dr. R. Shane Owens officiating. Interment will follow at
the church cemetery. The family will receive friends following the interment in
the church fellowship hall.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Union
Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 898, Carthage, NC 28327.
McEwen Funeral Home of Monroe is serving the family.