Remembrances of Tom Cooper
Bill Woody:
Tom Cooper was always one on my favorites, perhaps because he always treated me as one of his, late arriving son to the family that I was.
Cynthia Vurginac:
Tom Cooper was a great supervisor, a great mentor and always smiling. May he rest in peace.
Dr. Bob Crane:
I worked with Tom on many occasions and he was always helpful and considerate. I will miss our interactions.
Jorge Gonzales (Dayton Aerospace):
Class act all the way. Rest in peace Tom.
Dr. Vince Russo:
Tom was always up-beat and willing to help. He will greatly missed.
Dr. Terry Ronald:
This is a particularly notable loss for me. Tom headed a group of lab people who met my wife and I when we first stepped off the plane in Dayton to a new world, a new job and a new language in 1964. As a group leader in the Metals Branch of AFML, he was my boss for my early years here, with Ike Perlmutter being the branch chief and Harris Burte the division chief. Tom was my guide in terms of learning about the workings of the organization, as well as helping as we adjusted to the ways of general day-to-day life over here that were quite new to us. We stayed in touch over the many subsequent years. Tom was, of course, a charter member of AFMMAA, and until recent times was very active, including undertaking the challenging role of editor of the newsletter for several years.
John Williamson:
Tom was certainly one of the nicest gentlemen I have known and a valued colleague. His 39 years in the Materials Lab and the many awards and recognitions he has received speak for themselves. He certainly is one of the men who helped make the Materials Lab the great organization it is. From a personal stand point he attended all of the alumni luncheons that I organized for many years. I could always count on him. In more recent years, he jumped in and helped with the thankless task of editor for the alumni newsletter. He will be greatly missed.
Jim Mattice:
One thing not mentioned in Tom's work is that he was a frequent resource to the FAA in crash and other incident investigations and resulting litigations (some for major loss of life), as well as AF and other service accident/incident investigations. Of course, he could not talk about these cases much except on rare occasions. As Chief of Systems Support, he oversaw many other sensitive investigations. While serving my tour in the Pentagon as AF DAS/R&E, I had the opportunity to consult with him privately in this regard more than once. One example was the C-17 wing static test "failure". Unlike some other "consultants", his inputs were always "just the facts" and key to many outcomes, not always to the liking of some senior leaders. In short, absolute integrity sometimes not appreciated, but always provided. To me, Tom was what the Air Force really meant by Straight Arrow.
Warren Johnson:
Tom and I worked together in the Systems Support Division for 10 years during the 1980s and then again for about 15 years at Universal Technology Corporation during the late 1990s and early 2000s. While working in the Materials Lab, we belonged to an international committee and travelled regularly together. Tom, Catherine, Kathy and I became close friends and would meet socially and travel occasionally together. Tom was highly respected not only for his knowledge and background in metallic materials and NDE, but also his expertise with materials specifications and standards.
Bob Cochoy:
Sad news, indeed. Tom was part of our “lunch bunch” almost every work day at UTC for about 20 years. He was UTC’s metals expert.
Alan Katz:
I am really sorry to hear this. Tom was one of the first persons I got to know when I started in the lab. We lived a few miles apart in Vandalia, and he would give me a ride on the occasions that my car was in the shop. In recent years I’d see him at Dayton Philharmonic concerts, always with a big smile on his face. I will miss him.
John Speers:
Sorry to hear this. Tom was a good person and had great tech stories.
Don Shrader:
Very sorry to hear of Tom’s passing. He definitely was one of the good guys.
