Major Ret. John Frederick General Thorlin

Major General ret. John Frederick Thorlin, 94, died Thursday Dec. 9, 2004 in Fort Worth, Texas. John Frederick Thorlin was born in Portland, Oregon on June 21, 1910 to John F. A. Thorlin and Eva Johnson Thorlin.

Fred won appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point. General Douglas MacArthur's commencement address on June 13, 1933 was a memorable capstone to his West Point years. Upon graduation, Fred was commissioned into the Coast Artillery Corps. His first station was at the San Francisco Presidio. He was then sent to the Philippines in 1934.

In 1936 he was assigned to the 69th AA regiment in Galveston, Texas for three years. In Galveston, Fred met Martha Morelock. They married on June 26, 1939. The wedding was followed by a transfer to the Ordnance Corps and assignment to the Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground APG, Maryland.

He had found a career path that would eventually lead to two stars, a Masters degree from MIT, and induction into the Ordnance Hall of Fame.

By 1940, Fred was at Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Massachusetts, where he met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt to explain the first 90mm. anti-aircraft gun in the U.S arsenal. At war's end, Fred was decorated with several battle ribbons and both the Army and Navy Bronze Stars and the Navy Gold Star.

After a tour at the Naval War College, Fred spent two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, achieving a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1948, and election to Sigma Xi, the engineering honor society.

Fred returned for two more years at APG, then was sent to the Ordnance Research and Development Division in the Pentagon. There he led the Ordnance officer training program development. He also was actively involved in designing the M113APC Armored Personnel Carrier, the M41 Light Tank, and the M60 Tank - which became standards for almost the next twenty years. Fred spent a year at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and three years in Germany, before heading back to APG to lead the Ordnance Board.

In 1957, he created an Ordnance scholarship program that eventually became the Army College Scholarship Program. With his lifelong involvement in education and training programs, Fred always considered that project a major personal and career achievement.

Shortly after winning his first star in 1959, Fred headed the Ordnance Tank-Automotive Command in Detroit, Michigan. There he was recognized as "Mr. Armed Forces Automotive" by the media and was honored on his departure when the Mayor declared June 26, 1962 "Gen. Fred Thorlin Day." Fred was promoted to Major General in 1962 and took command of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. One of the high points of the tour was hosting President John F. Kennedy on June 5, 1963 during Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA demonstrations.

After 32 years of service, MG Thorlin retired on August 1, 1965, and spent the next five years traveling the world as international engineering manager for Michigan-based Continental Motors Corp.

In 1970, Fred and Martha returned to Texas where he joined the faculty of the College of Engineering at Texas A & M University. Retiring again in 1975, the Thorlins moved to San Antonio where Martha designed and built their home in Terrell Hills. In later years, she managed the house and garden, while Fred perfected his golf game and fixed his friends' cars! He never lost his sense of humor or his penchant for joking. His greatest satisfaction, though, was in helping others who needed help.

Fred and Martha were a winning team, raising three children and pursuing a distinguished military and civilian career during 64 years of marriage and family life.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Martha Morelock Thorlin.

Fred is survived by his children, J. Frederick Thorlin III, Lynn T. Moore and her husband Ron Moore; and Geoffrey P. Thorlin and his wife Pamela Thorlin. He will be missed by his grandchildren, Shelley Cummins, Eric Thorlin and Matt Moore.