Thomas Earl McMahon

LOWELL, Mass. - Thomas Earl McMahon, a former municipal engineer, died Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005, after a stroke at Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell, MA. He was 89. Mr. McMahon grew up in Hermosa, SD on a cattle ranch. He received his BS degree in general engineering in 1938 from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Mr. McMahon served with the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army from 1938 until 1941 in Pittsburgh. He was an engineer on construction in Trinidad in 1941-42. He also served in 1942, 1946-48 in the Omaha, Nebraska district as reports engineer. From 1943 until 1945, he was a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and he served with the Army Intelligence Section, Corps of Engineers, in Hawaii. He performed engineering tasks for the Division of the Pacific Ocean Theater of W.W. II. Mr. McMahon came to Butler, Pa. in 1948 and he took up a private practice as a civil engineer. He later was appointed to the position of Butler's city engineer in 1953. Mr. McMahon also held the distinction of being the first municipal engineer in Monroeville, Pa. in 1961. He and his crew of surveyors and inspectors were involved in intense development activity for a suburb of Pittsburgh. His coordination effort included the sewers, roads and traffic signals in the sprawling community. Mr. McMahon served the municipality for more than 25 years. His staff and colleagues affectionately called him "Silver fox". The personable Tom "Dakota" McMahon held memberships in the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers and the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers. He was also a long-standing member of the Butler Elks Club. Mr. McMahon was also listed in "Who's Who in Engineering". Mr. McMahon was a resident of The Pines in Tewksbury, MA. Mr. McMahon was son of the late Mary (Traut) and Thomas F. McMahon of Hermosa. He was a beloved husband of the late Marie (McCauley). He leaves a son, John T. McMahon of Tewksbury, MA; a daughter, Ojela (Maureen) Frank of Ocala, FL; a son, Brian McMahon of Holbrook, AZ; a brother, John A. McMahon of Hermosa; and a sister, Mary Ellen Bennett of Rapid City. He was a brother of the late Robert McMahon of Hermosa. He also leaves three grandchildren: Marie McMahon, Thomas McMahon and Cassandra (Gibson) Jacobson; and a great-grandchild, Tyler Jacobson. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at Breslin Funeral Home in Malden, Mass. Funeral Mass will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Church of Immaculate Conception in Malden. Burial will be at a later date in Massachusetts.
This obituary was originally published in the Rapid City Journal.