More detail on this person: Thomas A O'Rourke, 59 Deaths and Memorials Peninsula Daily News (Port Angeles, WA) - Sunday, July 22, 2007 July 3, 1947-June 26, 2007 Tom passed away on June 26, 2007, in a Seattle hospital after a brief but valiant fight against a bone marrow disease. Tom was 59 - just one week short of his 60th birthday. He is survived by his wife of 28 years, Lohna, and his son, Major Kevin O'Rourke, USMC, and wife, Casey, and granddaughter, Mallie. Tom also leaves a father and sisters, Barbara and Shirl O'Rourke. Tom, the son of Charles A. "Art" O'Rourke and Margaret Jean Wales, grew up in Ramsey, New Jersey. He attended Augustana College in Illinois on a football scholarship and graduated with a B.A. in Political Science - which no doubt laid the foundation for his very strong political beliefs. During college, he attended United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School and upon graduation was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Following his commission, he attended flight school in Pensacola, Florida, where he earned his "Wings of Gold" and was designated a Naval Aviator in 1970. He then served his country in Vietnam flying AH-1G Cobra helicopters with HML-367 "Scarface." He left the Marine Corps as a Captain to become Chief Test Pilot for Bell Helicopter International and managed their Maintenance Test Flight Division in Isfahan, Iran, from 1974 to 1979. Political unrest forced his evacuation from Iran in early 1979. In October 1979, Tom, Lohna and Kevin went to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where Tom worked as Contracting Administrator for the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO). It was in Saudi Arabia that Tom developed a lifelong passion for the underwater world - leading to a NAUI scuba instructor certification. During his 18 years with ARAMCO, he had the good fortune to travel extensively, seeking new and wonderful places to explore the ocean habitats. Tom was also an avid softball player and women's softball coach. Upon retirement from ARAMCO in 1997, Tom and Lohna returned to the house they built in Sequim, Washington. He promptly went to work for the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe to become Chief Enforcement Officer for the Tribe's Fish and Game Enforcement program. He was also the Tribe's dive safety officer. As an expert diver, he provided the formal instruction for many of the Tribe's commercial divers. Tom was also the Tribe's geoduck fishery manager. Tom held these positions until he passed away. As husband, father, grandfather, son, brother, teacher, colleague, mentor, coach and friend - Tom was so much to so many. He will be sorely missed by all those whose lives he touched. Donations in his memory can be made to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for research in Myelodysplastic syndrome, P.O. Box 19024, MS J5-200, Seattle, WA 98109.
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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