Thomas Gregory Squires

Thomas Gregory Squires was born to Roy Victor and VeraMargaret Moore Squires on August 15, 1938 in Asheville, NorthCarolina. He died on March 16, 2021 in Oracle, Arizona.Tom was an organic chemist by training who had a creative flair andan adventurous streak--qualities that took him around the worldand up and down mountainsides. Tom was a man of eclectic tastesand endless curiosity; he loved to cook and drink good wine. His wrywit infused the stories he loved to tell. Tom had intense blue eyesthat could wither, charm, convince and cajole. He rarely thoughtinside the box.After World War II and short-term stays with family in Chicago,North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., Tom was raised in Macon,Georgia, where his father managed the local Sears and Roebuckstore. He attended Clisby elementary and Lanier high schools. Tommarried Madalynn Smart Merritt in 1956. Together they had threechildren, Dorothy Lynn Squires (Juneau, AK), Thomas Gregory, Jr.(Tucson, AZ), and Joseph Merritt Squires (Tina, Montrose, CO), andwere later divorced. Tom married Joan Miller in 1989 and they livedtogether in Salt Lake City until her death in 2005. He later met andmarried Kathleen Morgan and they resided in Salt Lake City andOracle, Arizona.Tom served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1956 - 1958, graduatedfrom Davidson College with a B.S. in Chemistry in 1961, and a Ph.D.in Organic Chemistry from the University of Florida in 1966. Hecompleted an NSF post-doctoral fellowship at the University ofTexas-Austin in 1967. Tom's career took him to the University ofTennessee and then Celanese Plastics. In 1973 Tom relocated hisfamily to his beloved Durango, Colorado. From that launching padTom taught chemistry at Iowa State University and subsequentlybecame Executive Director of the Associated Western Universities inSalt Lake City. He retired in 2002.Tom is survived by his wife, Kathleen, his sister, Linda McKinley(Bruce) of Cocoa, FL, his three children, three grandsons, Chris andBen Squires and Austin White; his nieces, Katie McKinley and KellyHaynes, nephews Tom McKinley and Hunter Squires, and dozens ofextended Manion family members. He was preceded in death by hisbrother, Roy Victor Squires III and his grandson, Andrew White. Inlieu of flowers please send memorials honoring Tom to Fort LewisCollege, Department of Chemistry scholarship fund, in Durango, CO