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Contact Info
Home Town Born in Perry, raised in Enid Okla.
Last Address San Antonio Hill Country Retreat, San Antonio, Texas
Date of Passing Dec 19, 2014
Location of Interment Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery (VA) - San Antonio, Texas
Captain Thomas A. Loomis was a career military man who flew combat missions in the Korean War and briefly commanded the naval aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ticonderoga during the Vietnam War.
Loomis was born in Perry, Okla. on August 26, 1925 and grew up in nearby Enid during the height of the Dust Bowl. At 16 years old he was too young to enlist when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 1941. He joined an ROTC program the following summer and first experienced Navy life during a summer sea cruise on the U.S.S. West Virginia.
But flying had been a dream of his since his 14th birthday, when his father paid 50 cents for him to ride in a tri-motor plane over Enid at sunset. So he jumped at a chance to train to become a pilot in 1944.
Loomis was only about halfway through his training when World War II ended. After discharge he enrolled in the University of Michigan to study forestry. Upon graduating in 1947, he briefly took a job in Detroit for the Boy Scouts of America until he reentered the Navy as an officer flight student in 1948.
Thus began his true life’s work. In the Korean War, he flew bombing missions near the border of China and North Korea. He was wounded by shrapnel in a mission, and his efforts earned him an air medal and a purple heart.
After Korea, he served as a flight instructor in Pensacola, Fla. and later hunted Soviet submarines from aboard aircraft carriers in the western Atlantic. Those missions were occasionally eventful, too. One time, his plane lost power after it was struck by lightning. Another time, he had to wrestle controls away from a commanding officer who suffered vertigo while piloting.
During the Vietnam War, Loomis was assigned to the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga in the Gulf of Tonkin. He spent a year navigating the ship and then rose to executive officer. On his second deployment Loomis was named captain of the ship, and he served in that role for about two months.
After his service in Vietnam, Loomis earned a master’s degree in Systems Management and spent a brief time working at the Pentagon before retiring from active duty in 1974.
Other Comments:
MOAA: MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, ALAMO CHAPTER, Fort Sam Houston, TX.
Life Legacy:
Date
Dec 19, 2014
Last Updated: Feb 25, 2015
Comments
Captain Thomas A Loomis, retired Navy pilot and beloved husband, father and grandfather, died on Dec. 19 in San Antonio. He was 89.
Loomis was a career military man who flew combat missions in the Korean War and briefly commanded the naval aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ticonderoga during the Vietnam War.
Loomis was born in Perry, Okla. on August 26, 1925 and grew up in nearby Enid during the height of the Dust Bowl. At 16 years old he was too young to enlist when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor 1941. He joined an ROTC program the following summer and first experienced Navy life during a summer sea cruise on the U.S.S. West Virginia.
But flying had been a dream of his since his 14th birthday, when his father paid 50 cents for him to ride in a tri-motor plane over Enid at sunset. So he jumped at a chance to train to become a pilot in 1944.
Loomis was only about halfway through his training when World War II ended. After discharge he enrolled in the University of Michigan to study forestry. Upon graduating in 1947, he briefly took a job in Detroit for the Boy Scouts of America until he reentered the Navy as an officer flight student in 1948.
Thus began his true life's work. In the Korean War, he flew bombing missions near the border of China and North Korea. He was wounded by shrapnel in a mission, and his efforts earned him an air medal and a purple heart.
After Korea, he served as a flight instructor in Pensacola, Fla. and later hunted Soviet submarines from aboard aircraft carriers in the western Atlantic. Those missions were occasionally eventful, too. One time, his plane lost power after it was struck by lightning. Another time, he had to wrestle controls away from a commanding officer who suffered vertigo while piloting.
During the Vietnam War, Loomis was assigned to the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga in the Gulf of Tonkin. He spent a year navigating the ship and then rose to executive officer. On his second deployment Loomis was named captain of the ship, and he served in that role for about two months.
After his service in Vietnam, Loomis earned a master's degree and spent a brief time working at the Pentagon before retiring from active duty in 1974.
He was named assistant dean in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. As director of development, he was responsible for raising more than $34 million for the school. Friends donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in his honor to create the Thomas A. Loomis Endowed Lectureship and the Thomas A. Loomis Endowed Scholarships, which continue to support graduate students in the business school.
Following his retirement from UT, Loomis and Ann lived several years on Padre Island in Corpus Christi before moving to the San Antonio Hill Country Retreat.
Loomis is preceded in death by Ann Owens, his wife of 38 years. He is survived by daughter Christine Loomis Watkins and husband James; son Thomas Ayre Loomis, stepson John Fitzpatrick and wife Jeanne; sister Jeanne Frey: sister Gloria Powell and husband Fred; and brother Cdr. Robert R. Loomis USN (Ret.). Survivors also include grandchildren Elizabeth Carlisle and her husband Taylor, Matthew Watkins and his wife Susan, and Kallie, Kyle and Kimberly Fitzpatrick; great grandchildren Evan Thomas and Brynn Emily Carlisle and Hannah Watkins, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Son John and his wife Jeanne provided loving care and special assistance to Tom in the last year of his life, for which his entire family is especially grateful. Superior care was also provided by VITAS Hospice of San Antonio.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, January 9 at 10AM at San Pedro Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, followed by a brief reception at the church.
Internment with full military honors will follow at 1:00 PM at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.