Thomas A. Barr of Huntsville died February 7, 2018. Born in Gary, WV, he attended Bluefield College in Bluefield, VA. He worked for General Electric in Fort Bliss, TX as a contractor for Dr. Wernher von Braun’s team. He came to Huntsville in 1950 with the group that later became known as “The men who put man on the moon.” He was a NASA aerospace engineer and member of the Telemetry Group of the NASA Astronomic Lab. He was a lifetime member of the IEEE. While working with NASA, he wore other hats. He formed a consortium with Jim Cleary and John Higdon, and they brought the first television station to Huntsville; channel 31, and the Huntsville News, a daily morning newspaper. He was a partner in American Data, Huntsville and BGK in Bluefield, VA. Thomas retired from NASA and joined SAIC as a senior engineer. He was a charter member of NATRA. His recreation was riding motorcycles through the woods with his children and grandchildren. Tom and his wife, Jane, traveled extensively.
Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Jane Barr; sons, David Barr of Holland MI, and Gary Barr (Debbie) of Grant, AL; daughter, Suzanna Barr Moody (Darryl) of Coaldale, CO; brother-in-law, Ron Jones of Harvest, AL; granddaughter, Shannon Boston (Jesse) of Marietta, GA; grandsons, Adam Barr (Lacie) of Grant, AL, Shawn Fann (Chelsey) of Huntsville, Michael Fann of Colorado Springs, CO, and Matthew Barr (Andrea) of Holland, MI; six great-granddaughters; three great-grandsons; and nephew, Todd Jones (Kelley) of Raleigh, NC.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, February 9 at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. The funeral will be at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, February 10 in the funeral home chapel. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery.
