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<p><em>Thomas Prentis “Tom” Kehoe</em>, the only child of Thomas J. and Rose P. Kehoe, was born in Cleveland, OH on September 27, 1934. He grew up in Silver Spring, MD, where he attended St. Michael’s School. In 1952, he graduated from Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC, where he was on the football, basketball and baseball teams. After flunking the physical for the Naval Academy (color blindness), he attended Fordham University for a year, playing basketball and football, prior to entering West Point in 1953 with a vice presidential appointment. </p>
<p>As a proud member of A-1, Tom made lifelong friends. He said he worked hard at math and coasted in English. KDET was his outlet for sports, after being injured playing football, and he became sports director in his First Class year. His color blindness prevented him from choosing Air Force as his branch, and he often said that he found his true color when he chose Infantry blue!</p>
<p>During his 26 years of service, Tom served in airborne, straight-leg, motorized, mech and air assault infantry and enjoyed every day. He had a tour on the Infantry board, handled lieutenants at Infantry branch and managed Infantry systems development at AMC. He managed two major developmental programs and spent over five years at the Pentagon. He served in Vietnam with the 1st Division as the S-3 of a brigade in 1965-66 and in Thailand as an advisor in 1972. One of his favorite assignments was serving as the battalion commander of “the Rakkasans” (3-187th Airborne Infantry Regiment) in the 101st Airborne Division from July 1974 to January 1976. Additional education included an MBA from the University of Alabama in 1968, Armed Forces Staff College, Defense Systems Management School and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. For his service he was awarded the Silver Star, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal with “V” device and oak leaf cluster, Air Medal and Meritorious Service Medal.</p>
<p>Upon his retirement in 1983, Tom joined the Jet Propulsion Lab in the Virginia office and worked primarily on the Space Station Freedom Program until 1994, when the Space Station moved to Texas. We chose not to move as Virginia was home to us. We had lived here for 20 years between Army assignments and JPL. Tom worked as a contractor for Hughes before moving to Raytheon (Mission to Planet Earth) until his retirement in 2000.</p>
<p>Tom and I met the summer of 1954. Friends of his parents knew my family, and a blind date was arranged. I was about to graduate from White Plains High, which was close to the Academy. We spent many happy times at West Point and Camp Buckner that summer and in following years. I attended college in upstate New York, so it was a long distance romance, but I always knew Tom was the “one.” We wed in December of 1958, and I joined him at Fort Campbell, KY, where our first child was born.</p>
<p>We enjoyed a wonderful life together! He was such an easy-going guy, and he put up with me! Our four children were born close together: Kathy in 1959, Tip in 1960, and twins Karen and Kevin in 1961. The last three were all born in Alaska while we were at Fort Richardson. We did have some rough patches, as everyone does, and together we managed to deal with them (a traumatic brain injury for Tip at age 12, Kathy with cancer at 21, and the sudden death of Karen at age 32 during her third pregnancy). Tom was a great dad and granddad of four, plus our two bonus grands, as Karen’s husband remarried. Thankfully, Tom was able to travel by car to Florida in 2012 to meet our newborn great-grandson.</p>
<p>Through the years Tom donated much time and energy to numerous organizations. In the early years it was Scouts and coaching Little League. He used his computer skills to keep databases, develop websites, and publish newsletters for our homeowner’s association, his West Point class, the West Point Society of DC, and the Northern Virginia Brain Injury Association. He also served as president for the latter and chair of its annual three-day conference.</p>
<p>In 2004 Tom was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer, followed in 2006 by breast cancer (mastectomy and chemo). In 2010 he had a problem breathing and was hospitalized for six weeks, during which time he had a biopsy and was diagnosed with incurable pulmonary fibrosis. During that time he had an emergency colostomy due to all the steroids prescribed. It wasn’t able to be reversed due to his condition. After spending three months in rehab he was happy to return home. He was a real trooper and never complained despite full-time oxygen. After his class’s 55th reunion, which we were not able to attend, his old roommates (Tom Dayton and Cal DeWitt) visited for a couple days, which boosted his morale. I have a wonderful photo of the three in their reunion hats. During his final three weeks, Tom was under the care of Capital Caring Hospice and passed away at home, surrounded by family, on April 3, 2014.</p>
<p>Tom was quiet by nature but enjoyed a good time and had a great sense of humor. He was a loyal friend and helped anyone in need. Sports were a big part of his life, as well as were reading and computer time. Most important to him was being with loved ones. He is dearly missed by family and friends. </p>
<p>His life was definitely “well done” and he is now “at peace.”</p>
<p><em>— Katherine Kehoe, wife</em></p>
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