Dr. Thomas R. Marrero, P.E.

Dr. Thomas R Marrero, 79, of Columbia, passed away Wednesday December 2, 2015 at Lenoir Woods with his family by his side. Visitation will be 5-8pm, with a rosary at 5:15pm, Monday December 7, 2015 at Memorial Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10am Tuesday December 8, 2015 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1115 Locust St, Columbia.

Dr. Thomas R. Marrero was born May 21, 1936 to Francisco and Luisa (Ornes) Marrero in New York.

He began his passion for education growing up in New York City. He is a graduate of the acclaimed Stuyvesant High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, Masters from Villanova and Ph.D. from University of Maryland. Dr. Marrero continually sought to inspire students to set high goals and advance science and engineering to make the world a better place.

Dr. Thomas Marrero joined the University of Missouri Department of Chemical Engineering in 1979, promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1983, and raised to the rank of Professor in 1997. Marrero has published 35 refereed journal articles, numerous conference presentations, five U.S. patents, and four U.S. patent disclosures. His research associated with the NSF-founded Capsule Pipeline Research Center is most notable. He has served as faculty advisor for various student organizations and on numerous committees on and off the campus. He was elected Fellow of AICHE, a prestigious recognition in the world’s leading organization for chemical engineering professionals. This month, Dr. Marrero received one of the inaugural Pioneers of Diversity Awards by the AICHE Minority Affairs Committee (MAC), for his dedication to MAC and for his mentorship of Hispanic chemical engineers in AICHE and the profession.

Dr. Marrero has traveled to every continent. Notably, he lived in Antarctica for one year with a team of scientists from Martin-Marietta. He has flown in a hot air balloon over Turkey, walked the streets of Prague, hiked through the Amazon, floated in the Dead Sea and scaled across the Great Wall of China. Countless other adventures filled his life with excitement.

In his teenage years Thomas was a competitive baseball player. His achievement in the youth leagues of New York earned him a tryout with the New York Yankees. “No luck” he wrote on the letter. But, it proved to be an amazing day to play ball in Yankee Stadium.

Dr. Marrero was survived by his children Anthony Marrero (Amy) of Missouri, Thomas W. “Tom” Marrero (Kim) of Illinois, and Margie Marrero (Chad Motley) of Virginia; grandchildren: Caroline, Nicholas, Tommy, Natalie, Madeline, and Brady Marrero, William Motley; three sisters: Carmen Teresa Padilla of New York, Stella Franco, Angela Isola, both of New Jersey.

Dr. Marrero was preceded in death by his parents and one brother Frank Marrero.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Thomas’ name.