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Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Passing of Tom McCaskill


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.