Obituary of Thomas Meehan

Thomas Irving Meehan Sr. left this world on November 9, 2011 at the age of 89. He left behind a loving family and a legacy of leadership and success. Tom was born in Ogdensburg, New York May 5, 1922 to Thomas and Edith Meehan and he carried the lessons he learned living through the Great Depression on through life. As a navigator in the U.S. Air Force during WW II Tom served his country and built the foundation for a long and successful life. Those skills helped him navigate his way through Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York as a mechanical engineer; through a very successful career in management for Crown Zellerbach Paper Company and through raising a family of six children. He started his career with Crown Zellerbach in Carthage, New York. He worked through the civil rights movement of the 1960's in the Deep South as Mill Manager in Bogalusa, Louisiana. He managed the mill in Wauna, Oregon from 1968 to 1971. And he spent more than a decade managing Crown Zellerbach's largest mill in Camas, Washington. He retired as a Vice President in the company in 1982. He was known for his biting wit and gruff approach to most situations and he had a way of stating complicated situations in their simplest form, something he termed 'speaking Gaelic'. Tom leaves behind his wife of 70 years, Ruth Redmond Meehan; a son, John Hamilton Meehan; three daughters, Ruth Ellen Meehan Aller, Colleen Patricia Meehan Duggan, and Erin Meehan Breen; daughters-in-law, Frances Grace Meehan and Marletta Wolfe Meehan; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a grand-daughter, Caitlin Merrill; and two sons, Thomas Irving Meehan Jr. and Richard William Meehan who have no doubt already greeted him at heaven's gate. In Gaelic; he was a wonderful husband, father, son and friend who will be missed but never forgotten. As were his wishes, we will always "Keep the Faith". There will be a celebration of Tom's life with full military honors on Tuesday, November 15th at 11:00 am at Brown's Funeral Home: 410 NE Garfield St. Camas, WA 98607. In lieu of flowers donations could be made to the Ray Hickey Hospice House: PO Box 1600 Vancouver, WA 98668. Brown's Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Camas has been entrusted with arrangements.