Thomas Ellsworth Michaels

October 02, 1943 - May 31, 2018

Thomas Ellsworth Michaels Obituary Tom Michaels, 74, died peacefully on May 31st, 2018, at Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane, WA with his wife of 37 years, Jenny Michaels, and his family by his side. He was born in Spokane, the son of Earl and Helen (Graney) Michaels, and spent most of his childhood in Loon Lake. Tom was preceded in death by his sister, Shirley (Michaels) Phipps, and his son, Gregory James Michaels. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer Emmons Michaels of Deer Park, WA, sister Judy (Michaels) Gross of Priest River, ID, half-sister Patricia ?Paddy? McAllister of La Pine, OR, daughters Tricia Anne Chappell (husband Brian) of Kenosha, WI, Christine Ruth Erickson (husband James) of Mead, WA, grandchildren Michael Ramirez, Alec Michaels, Christopher Michaels, Nicholas Michaels, Patrick Chappell, Grant Erickson, Avery Erickson, and James Chappell, great-grandchildren Alexis Michaels and Adrien Michaels, brother-in-law William Phipps, daughter-in-law Angie Michaels, aunt Merilyn (Michaels) Atwood, ex-wife Shirley Benzel, and his beloved dog ?Bear.? Tom will be greatly missed by his friends, colleagues, nieces, nephews, and extended family on both the Michaels and Emmons sides. Tom attended grades 1-8 at the two-room Loon Lake Schoolhouse and graduated from Deer Park High School in 1961. He received his undergraduate degree in Physical Metallurgy in 1965 and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1972, both from Washington State University. In addition, he was a self-taught electrical and mechanical engineer with many inventions, patents, and published papers. He began working for Battelle Northwest in Richland, WA while in graduate school and later was a senior research scientist and manager at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, MI. He returned to Washington in 1976 to work at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory in Richland as a technical manager. He founded a small company, JTM Systems and Consulting, Inc., in 1981 with his wife Jenny, which they jointly ran in Ithaca, NY until 1988 when they sold their company and it became a division of Panametrics, Inc. in Waltham, MA. He and Jenny were recruited to Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA in 2002 and were both professors in Electrical and Computer Engineering until 2016 when Tom?s health became such that he could no longer work. He was a dedicated and compassionate teacher, insisting on giving his last lecture before heading to the hospital to be treated for heart failure. Tom dearly loved his children and he and Jenny treasured their vacations with them at the beach, snow skiing, and especially at the Emmons farm. These times are special memories that have resulted in much laughter over the years. Tom was very happy to retire to the Spokane area where he could be close to more of his family. He enjoyed building and flying radio-controlled model airplanes and was a member of the Baron?s Model Club of Spokane. He was also an auxiliary member of VFW Post 3067, Deer Park, WA. While living in upstate New York, Tom was a Sunday School teacher and AWANA leader at Dryden Baptist Church. After moving to Atlanta, he and Jenny especially enjoyed spending time with their friends at their cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. They also enjoyed travel focused on bird and wildlife watching, with multiple trips to Africa providing many special memories. Tom graciously dealt with serious health issues starting in 2002 when he barely survived a ?widowmaker? heart attack. He worked full time and traveled extensively while suffering from severe heart failure until 2016 when his heart could no longer support him. He then received a mechanical heart pump (LVAD ? left ventricular assist device), which is essentially half of an artificial heart with external batteries. As an engineer, he had no qualms about relying on this life-saving technology. He survived a broken hip in 2016, lymphoma in 2017, and a replacement heart pump in 2018 before finally succumbing to MDS ? myelodysplastic syndrome ? which is a rare blood cancer. He continually amazed all who knew him with his always positive attitude, ability to make the most out of whatever situation he was in, and capacity to learn new things, especially if they involved technology. The family would like to thank all of the medical professionals in both Atlanta and Spokane who cared for Tom over the years and enabled him to live a rich, full life despite many physical issues. In particular, we are so grateful to the entire mechanical heart team at Sacred Heart Medical Center who came to know Tom all too well over the past two years. They were amazing both in their medical expertise and compassionate care. A Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, June 8th, at Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way, Spokane, WA, 99224 followed by his burial at Fairmount Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to make a contribution ?in memory of Tom Michaels? is encouraged to consider a donation to Baptist Global Response (www.gobgr.org), the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org), the Loon Lake Historical Society (www.loonlakehistoricalsociety.com), or the charity of your choice.