Douglas P. Thomas ’59 *64

Doug died Feb. 22, 2015, in Louisville, Ky., after   a six-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.

As an undergraduate, he majored in civil engineering, took his meals at Elm Club, and roomed with Herb Kashian. After graduation, he attended Naval Officer Candidate School and served three years on the guided-missile cruiser the USS Topeka. Then, unsatisfied with his well-earned bachelor’s degree, he returned to Princeton to acquire a master’s degree in plastics engineering.

Degree in hand, Doug joined General Electric, working in the plastics laboratory for 35 years, and, for a period during that tenure, serving as president of the local chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers, a distinguished international organization.

In retirement, undeterred by his Parkinson’s, he served as a volunteer at a recovery facility for people who suffered from drug and alcohol abuse and raised his voice in his church choir.

Along this path, he was supported by Nancy Helm Thomas, his wife of 50 years. The class extends sympathy to Nancy; their children, Ruth, Harold, and Doug; and nine grandchildren, who, to recognize Doug’s devotion to Old Nassau, always gave him orange gifts or tigers.