Tomas Ramirez Santos Jr.

Tomas R. Santos Jr. passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loved ones. He was born and raised in Agana, Guam. When he was 6 years old, the Japanese invaded Guam in 1941. Tomas never spoke of his time during this invasion. During Japanese occupation, their home was taken and left them homeless for 4 years until Guam was liberated by United States in 1945. Later, he graduated from Father Dueanas High School and left Guam at the age of 17.

Tomas moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and attended college at the University of St. Thomas prior to enlisting in the United States Air Force. He served our country from 1956 – 1960. He was also active reserved until March 1962. He was very proud to serve for the United States military and often saluted the American flag while driving.

Tomas happily married Anna Buechler on June 4, 1962 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Once they were married, they moved to Englewood, California where he worked for Control Data Corporation. He went back to college in 1962 and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Northop Institute of Technology in March 1965. He worked 40 hours week for Telemetrics while attending college full time and raising a family. He credits his strength from his faith in God. In May 1965, IBM offered Tomas a job at Kennedy Space Center and they moved to Florida. He continued taking graduate studies while working and obtained a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. His job titles included Telemetry System Engineer, Guidance Computer Engineer & Test and Operations Engineer until he retired at age 55 in July 1991. He worked with the Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.

He stated his main reason for retiring early was to learn how to make his prayers more pleasing to God. Tomas acted passionately on spreading awareness of what God wants for the world. He served unconditionally to God, the church and those in need. His prayers through the grace of God touched many lives around him. He will be most remembered by his unwavering faith and peace he spread all around him.

He wrote “I want my children to remember me only as desiring their salvation more than any worldly achievement”.

He is preceded in death by his father and mother, Tomas R. Santos Sr and Asuncion Santos, siblings Patricia, Joseph and Fred. He is survived by his loving wife Anna and children Priscilla Layer, Christina Santos, Tomas R. Santos III (Tracy), Melissa Taylor (Jeff), Antonio Santos (Buffy), Barbara Opperman (Rob), Ricardo Santos (Heather) with 16 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Julie Blaz who currently lives in Guam.

He is now at peace with the Lord.