Thomas Gregory Horeff

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Arundel Volunteer Fire Department, 2380 Davidsonville Road, Gambrills, MD 21054 or Hospice of the Chesapeake - Hospice Cup 

Thomas G. (Tom) Horeff (Thomas Horeff) of Crofton, MD died on September 1, 2019. He was 91. Tom was born on August 18, 1928 in Brooklyn, NY and was raised in Franklin, NJ. He graduated from Franklin High School at age 16 and from Saint Louis University Parks College at age 19 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering and his private pilot license.

He went to work for McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in Saint Louis as a flight test engineer in the flight test programs of Navy and Air Force jet airplanes, including assignments at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland and Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Tom served in the army from 1951 - 1953 as an engineering research assistant in the Propulsion & Fuels Section of the Army Ordnance Guided Missile Center at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He then went to work as an Assistant Project Engineer in the Ramlet Engine Division of Curtiss-Wright Corporation in Wood-Ridge, NJ until 1957, when he started a 32 year career with the Federal Aviation Administration as a Powerplant Installation Design Evaluation Engineer in airplane certification projects in the New York office. In 1962, Tom transferred to the Atlanta office and to the Washington headquarters in 1965 as the Manager of the FAA Propulsion Research and Development Program. In January, 1967, he was selected as the FAA representative to assist NASA in investigation of the Apollo space capsule fire accident at the Kennedy Space Center. Tom was promoted to Chief, Propulsion Branch in 1977 and was a member of the US certification team of the Concorde supersonic transport. In 1984, he went to the FAA office in Brussels where he was a Senior Project Engineer in certification of several European aircraft. Tom retired in 1989 after 41 years in aviation.

Tom was a lector and former member of the finance committee at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Crofton. His hobbies included building model airplanes, playing the accordion and bowling.

He is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Marianne, three daughters, Susan Horeff of Crofton, Nancy Pfund of Lutherville, and Janice Badesha of Columbia, and a son, Thomas E. Horeff of Severna Park. He is also survived by his brother, Serge Horeff, of Oakland, Ca. and 4 grandchildren who were his absolute joy, Alexa, JJ, Layla and Hari.