Thomas Earl Luallen

On Sunday, December 13, 2020, Thomas Earl Luallen passed away due to complications associated with metastatic skin cancer. Tom, a son, brother and nephew for 76 years, a husband for 56 years, a dad for 53 years, a papa for 23 years and remembered in each of us forever.

Tom was born on January 26, 1944 in Bloomington, IL to Elmer E. Luallen and Mary E. (McCormick) Luallen. He is survived by his wife Cheryl (Spreckelmeyer) Luallen, one brother, James (Genevieve) Luallen; two sisters, Patricia (Kenneth, deceased) Mullins, and Norene (Roger) Homan; and one son, Matthew and daughter-in-law Jill Luallen, six grandchildren, Amanda, Elise, Talia, Adeline, Phoebe and Kai. Tom is preceded in death by his parents, brother Gary Luallen (2013) and his son Tim Luallen who passed away earlier this year. Tom received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry and Physics from Millikin University in Decatur, IL. He was employed for 24 years by Staley’s (Tate & Lyle) as a food scientist and then worked in various roles for MidWest Grain, National Starch (Ingredion), ConAgra, Cargill, and continued working in his own company StarQuest FOOD Consulting throughout 2020. Tom was also a long time member of the Starch Round Table and served twice as the Chair of the Institute of Food Technologies Carbohydrate division.

Tom was a passionate, devoted, patriotic and driven man whose boom of a voice could call a greeting to a friend or a relative across the room. He never met a stranger. Tom traveled around the world to advise upon food science for most products we all consume daily and to explore with his wife, family and friends. He also spent time criss-crossing the Midwest so that he did not miss a family event. Tom co-developed the first starch selecting computer program in the early 1980s called StarQuest and then even this year continued consulting with major food brands. He traveled with a mobile food science lab in his car to the delight of his grandkids who sometimes got to taste his inventions. He left behind among each of us personal memories of whipped creamed heads, expletives about gold bricks, handy-over tag, creek swimming, haunted houses, horseshoes and pinochle, basketball and golf, forts and swinging from vines, and the Sadie Hawkins dance that led to the love of life. He rode zip lines at 63 and built them at 68. He enjoyed four-wheeling on his new ATV and first-time hot air balloon rides at 70. Papa’s love of his grandchildren led him to architect and construct a tree house during the summer of 2020, demonstrating his superhuman strength and devotion to his family that will live on in our memories forever.

Tom’s online service will take place at twitch.tv/thomas_earl_luallen. Go to the link, sign-up if necessary and follow the channel, and you will be notified once the live stream is available. We will be following up the online service with an in-person celebration on a later date.

“So, as you go through life; watch and react, listen and learn, love and be loved. Always believe….God does watch over you.” - Papa Tom, aka “Mr. Starch"