07/30/1991
Thomas Edward Harrington Memorial services for Lt. Col., Ret., Thomas E. Harrington
of Atwater were conducted Saturday at the Castle Air Force Base chapel with personal
friend the Rev. E. Dale Bethel! Of Fresno officiating.
Mr. Harrington died July
30, 1991, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Fresno of congestive
heart failure. He was 69. A retired officer and elementary schoolteacher, he was
also a POW in Germany in World War II.
Born July 3, 1922 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Mr.
Harrington was a resident of Atwater for 42 years. He graduated from Knoxville High
School, Knoxville, Iowa, in 1939 and Stanislaus State College in Turlock in 1963.
Mr. Harrington was a navigator and radar operator for the U.S. Air Force, serving
from 1939 to 1960. He was shot down over Germany on his fourth mission Feb. 24,
1944 and liberated May 1, 1945. He also taught math and science for the Winton Unified
School District for 19-1/2 years and was past president of the Winton Teachers Association.
His interests and hobbies included camping, traveling, reading, spectator sports,
visiting with family, and woodworking.
He is survived by his wife of 50 years Arline of Atwater; daughters Patricia Lynn Kotter of Anaheim and Susan Rae Miller of Lake Forest, Calif.: sons Thomas Craig Harrington of Burney
and Ronald Dean Harrington of Redding: sisters Mildred Zickel and Margaret Tonda,
both of Knoxville, Iowa: and three grandchildren, Kimberly, Kara and John Miller,
all of Lake Forest.
A visitation was held Friday at Parent Sorensen Mortuary in
Petaluma. Entombment was in Cypress Hill Memorial Park, Petaluma. Contributions
in his memory may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.