Thomas Richard "Dick" McCalla

Thomas Richard McCalla 13 Sep 1932 Chickasha, Oklahoma – Present Gracemont, Oklahoma (Age 91) It is with great sorrow that we note the passing of Thomas Richard “Dick” McCalla on July 18, 2024. Thomas was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma, on September 13, 1932, to Joseph Bailey and Marilouise McCalla. He attended and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in March of 1954. While at OU he attended the Navy Reserve Officer Training Program and was commissioned an Ensign in the US Navy. His first assignment was aboard the destroyer USS Gregory in the South Pacific. On December 31, 1956, he married Shirley Howard of Chickasha, Oklahoma, who predeceased him on July 31, 2016. Thomas and Shirley had four children, Bonnie, Richard, Erin, and Stacy, and four grandchildren, Gerard, Julie, Thomas, and Sean. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers, Joseph Bailey (JB) and Gary, and his daughter Stacy. Thomas served 20 years in the Navy and retired as a Commander at Skaggs Island, California. After years spent in and around the Washington, DC area the family moved to California. After a year in Petaluma, California, the family settled in Napa in 1972 where they stayed until 1979 when they relocated to Chickasha, Oklahoma, so that Thomas could begin his second phase of life as a college professor. At the University of Oklahoma Arts and Sciences, Thomas taught Computer Sciences. He was not only a sailor and a scholar; he was a published author. Thomas authored numerous books on computer languages, to include Introduction to Numerical Methods and FORTAN programming, and Digital Logic and Computer Design. Again, retiring in 1994, Thomas, Shirley, and Stacy moved back to the family farm in Napa, California where he would “tinker” for the next 22 years. After Shirley’s death in 2016, Thomas remained in Napa until 2021 when he moved to Oklahoma first with his son Richard, then to Brookdale Senior Assisted Care Home and in 2023 with his son, Richard, and nephew, Gerard. Thomas will always be remembered and greatly missed, He was someone who loved to roll up his sleeves and do the job, whether at a desk or on the farm. He was truly a force of nature. The world is a poorer place for his loss.

Thomas Richard "Dick" McCalla

September 13, 1932 - July 18, 2024

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