Thomas M. Conrad ’63

Tom died Jan. 17, 2025, surrounded by family in a hospital near his home in Tellico Village, a retirement community in Loudon County, Tenn.

He came to us from Collingdale (Pa.) High School, where he played three sports, won the class music and science awards, and was class salutatorian. At Princeton, he majored in geology, took his meals at Tower Club, and as the recipient of a Navy scholarship, was a midshipman in NROTC.

Tom was commissioned into the Navy upon graduation. That same week, he married the love of his life, Linda Hudson, and began training on St. Simons Island, Ga. His initial deployment was to an oceanographic survey ship in the North Sea, where he received news that his first daughter had been born stateside.

After four years of service, Tom left the Navy and took a job with Corning Glass in upstate New York. He held subsequent positions at Thatcher Glass Co. in Elmira and then Chattanooga Glass Co. in Chattanooga, Tenn. The family lived in nearby Hixson, Tenn., which enabled Tom to satisfy a lifelong passion, sailing. He kept a boat on Lake Chickamauga, competed in regattas, and joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Tom and Linda were active in the Lutheran church everywhere they lived. In Hixson, Tom ushered, sang in the choir, and served on the church council.

Tom and Linda moved to Tellico Village, and Tom worked with engineering companies in a variety of environmental protection roles. He retired as a certified environmental manager with Bechtel Jacobs Co., the environmental management contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s office in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Tom is survived by his son, Thomas Jr.; daughters Melissa Pearce and Susan Weakly; and five grandchildren. Linda, his wife of 57 years, died in 2019.