Thomas Patrick Goggin USMC (ret), 86, Lansdowne, VA

[GyBill]

Thomas Patrick Goggin (Age 86) Of Lansdowne, Virginia died peacefully with his family at his side at Inova Loudoun Hospital on Saturday, October 28, 2017.

He was the eldest son of the late Patrick Joseph Goggin and Elizabeth O'Callahan Goggin. His beloved wife of 58 years, Dorothea Marie Sullivan Goggin, pre-deceased him in 2011.

He is survived by his brother, Daniel B. Goggin, and his sister-in-law, Connie, as well as his children, Thomas P. Goggin, Jr. and his significant other Virginia Chiantella, Mary McManus and her husband, Tim, Sheila Van Vleet and her husband, David, Dotty Goggin, and Michael Goggin and his wife, Deirdre Shupe.

Throughout his life, Tom was a rock of support to his wife, his parents, his three younger siblings, his five children, his 16 grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and 19 nieces, nephews and family friends.

Born in Malden, Massachusetts on November 15, 1930, Tom grew up in Somerville, MA, in a loving, Irish Catholic family, along with his siblings, Patrick and Mary (who pre-deceased him) and Daniel. He graduated from Malden Catholic High School in 1948, and went on to the University of Mississippi on an NROTC scholarship, graduating with a Civil Engineering degree in 1952. He subsequently earned a M.Ed. from the University of Virginia in 1969. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1953. He married Dot Sullivan, the love of his life on June 6, 1953, before his unit was deployed to Korea. During his 20 year career as a Marine officer he co-developed the Marine Automated Readiness Evaluation System, the Defense Department's first centralized readiness reporting system. He also served as the Editor in Chief of the Marine Corps Gazette and as head of the Defense Language Institute.

After retiring from the Corps in 1973, he went on to serve for over 20 years as an executive in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Tom was a very active community volunteer in Vienna, Virginia, where he and his wife Dot raised their family, and later in Lansdowne, Virginia, including service as a youth softball coach, cub scout leader, President of the Oakton High boosters, head usher at St. Mark's Catholic Church, usher at St. Theresa Catholic Church, religious education instructor and volunteer supervisor for the Red Cross at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. Tom's greatest strength was found in the care and concern that he always exhibited towards his family both near and far. He was always there to provide "overwatch" and emotional sanctuary where you knew that whatever trouble you may find, Tom Goggin had your back.

Visitation will be held at Loudoun Funeral Chapel, Leesburg, VA, on Thursday November 9, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be held on Friday November 10, at 11 a.m. at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Ashburn VA.

The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Red Cross.

Online coldolences may be expressed at: www.loudounfuneralchapel.com