BOILING SPRING LAKES — Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas T. “Tom” Cavanagh III, 74, passed away Sunday, March 17, 2019, at his home.
Tom was born Oct. 25, 1944, in Newark, New Jersey, to the late Thomas Cavanagh II and Josephine Prill. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Diane Borawski; daughter, Kimberly Harp, and her husband, Dennis, of Belville; son, Thomas T. Cavanagh IV of Spartanburg, South Carolina; grandchildren, Matthew and Samantha Harp; sister, Patricia Sjogren, and her husband, Eric, of Glen Gardner, New Jersey; brother, Brian, and his wife, Janice, of Providence, New Jersey; nephew, Conor Sjogren; and nieces, Kristie Cavanagh Kotch and Jena Cavanagh.
Tom graduated from Rutgers University, New Jersey, and entered the U.S. Air Force from Rutgers AFROTC in 1966. He earned master degrees from the University of Alaska and Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Col. Cavanagh was a command navigator on EC 47’s in Vietnam and C-133 for the Air Force Military Airlift Command in Dover, Delaware. He was a command pilot in F-4 Phantoms in Anchorage, Alaska, and an instructor pilot at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. After a tour as a NATO staff officer in Belgium, he was an A-10 operations officer and base commander at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge, United Kingdom. Tom completed his career as the Base Commander at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and AFROTC commander at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois.
After retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 1992, he moved to Boiling Spring Lakes, where he worked as the business manager for the Smithville Company until late 2012. He was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Southport and was an active member for the past 25 years in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 10-05 in Southport.
A funeral Mass will be held at noon, Friday, March 22, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Southport.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or the Cape Fear Coastal Boy Scouts, Troop 747, 117C Village Road, Leland, NC 28451.
Share online condolences with the family at Peacock-Newnam & White Funeral and Cremation Service.
