Thomas H. Sanders Jr, 79, passed away on October 18, 2022 at Northside Hospital. He was born July 23, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he attended school until the eighth grade before graduating from Atlantic City High School in 1962. In his youth, he studied violin but chose science and engineering for a career. While earning an undergraduate and Masters degree from Georgia Tech, he joined the US Army Reserves serving as a captain in the chemical core division. After graduating, he took a job with Pratt & Whitney, where he worked in the area of engine research for several years before returning to Georgia Tech to get a PhD in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Following a five-year stint at Alcoa’s research lab, he again returned to Georgia Tech to further his research in the area of aerospace materials, but soon after decided to pursue an academic path.
In 1981, he secured an academic position in the Materials Engineering department of Purdue University. He married Deborah Merck on August 21, 1982 in the Chapel of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta. In 1987, with his wife and two young sons, he returned to his alma mater and was promoted to Regents Professor in 1994. In 1995 he became an American Society of Materials fellow. He served as Associate Chair of the department’s Graduate Program for more than ten years until 2010. Over the next eight years he taught many semesters on Georgia Tech’s Metz campus in France. He formally retired in January 2019 after a 36-year academic career. However, after the pandemic, he returned to Tech to teach a six-week course in Oxford, England, which ended this past August.
Growing up Tom was very active in the Episcopal church but with his family he later joined Dunwoody United Methodist Church. Tom had many passions. Snow skiing was high among them. By the time he was 50 he had run five marathons. But nothing appealed to him more than a trip to the beach. At home, he dabbled in furniture refinishing and continually explored new styles of music.
Tom is preceded in death by his oldest son Barrett Hutchinson “Hutch” Sanders. He is survived by his wife Deborah Sanders, his son Bret Thomas Sanders, his wife Laura and their daughter Olivia Grace and his grandson Dylan Sanders, as well as his niece Carol Smith and her husband Gary and his nephew Ken Florence, his wife Joan and their son Johnathan.
Funeral services will be held at 1 pm on November 19 at H.M. Patterson Oglethorpe, 4550 Peachtree Road, Atlanta 30319, with Reverend David Melton officiating, followed by a reception at the Brittany Club 3359 Breton Circle, Atlanta 30319.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
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