Dr. Thomas J. Luster 1953-2009

MULLARKEY, HAWES, LUSTER, MCELLHINEY, CARPENTER, RUZICH, MEZA

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 4/10/2009 at 21:34:48

Dr. Thomas J. Luster

Dr. Thomas J. Luster, age 55, of East Lansing, MI passed away Sunday, March 15, 2009 of a massive heart attack while attending a family gathering in Deerfield, IL. His services were held Saturday, March 21 in East Lansing, MI. He was an organ donor and another service will be held in the Lansing, IA area at a later date.

Tom was born in Waukon August 19, 1953 to Norbert and Alice (Mullarkey) Hawes. His father passed away when he was 17 months old and later his mother married Ernest J. Luster and he became his adoptive father.

Tom graduated from St George High School in Lansing in 1971. He attended Loras College in Dubuque and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1975. He received his Ph.D from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 1985 with a degree in Philosophy. He began his teaching career at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI in 1985 in the Department of Family and Child Ecology. Tom married Carol McEllhiney, the daughter of William and Ruth McEllhiney, in Dubuque August 9, 1980.

He is survived by his wife, Carol, of East Lansing, MI; his daughter, Anna Luster, of Indianapolis, IN; his son Ben Luster, a senior at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI; his parents, Ernest and Alice Luster of Lansing; three sisters, Mary Carpenter of Pasadena, CA, Jean (Carl) Ruzich of Beecher, IL, and Sara (Juan Carlos) Meza of Charlotte, NC; and two brothers, Dennis (Barbara) Luster of Janesville, WI and Bruce (Kathy) Luster of Frisco, TX. He is also survived by his nieces and nephews, Kristen (Harold) Larkin and their children Zachary and Brittany of Evergreen Park, IL, Lisa (Joel) Williams and their son Kyle of Wadsworth, IL, and Elizabeth and Olivia Luster of Janesville, WI.

He was preceded in death by his father, Norbert Hawes; his grandparents, Benjamin and Mary Mullarkey, Edward and Lila Hawes, and John and Loella Luster; and a nephew, Kevin Carpenter.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that gifts be made in Thomas Luster's memory to the Department of Family and Child Ecology at Michigan State University for Child Development as this was Tom's area of passion.

The Waukon Standard, March 25, 2009
Submitter is not related and has no further information.

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