Thomas George McCuskey

1948 – 2022

 

     Thomas George McCuskey, 74, of Keokuk, IA, died Thursday, September 8, 2022 at Blessing Health Hospital in Keokuk.  

     Tom was born on May 4, 1948, in Massillon, Ohio, the son of Richard George and Eleanor Mumaw McCuskey. He graduated from Perry High School in Massillon, Ohio with the class of 1966. He attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA, where he majored in Political Science, and was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He also worked as a photographer and writer for the college newspaper, the “Coe Cosmos,” and served as its editor his junior and senior years. He was married to Barbara Pollack from 1970 to 1994. He graduated from Coe in 1970, and then spent a year at Southern Illinois University, studying history. He ultimately received his Juris Doctorate law degree from Drake University in 1974. 

    Tom practiced law in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines for 35 years. He also taught in the Paralegal Program at Kirkwood Community College for over a decade. He loved teaching, interacting with his students, and helping them further their ambitions. He moved to Keokuk in 2009, and worked at Johnson-Schmidt for several years.  

     Tom was a sports enthusiast, who loved all kinds of motorsport, attending Iowa football and basketball games, and rooting for his hometown Cleveland teams. He also loved to travel, and combined those passions by attending the Olympic Games in Rome, Montreal, Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, and Atlanta. He passed on his love of travel to his children by including them on many family trips both domestic and abroad.  

     Tom’s other interests included photography, history, politics, cars, collecting antiques, and cooking.  He was an avid reader, especially of current events.  He enjoyed sitting on his deck overlooking the Mississippi, reading, smoking a cigar, or just listening to the birds and watching the river. He loved his bulldogs Nelson and Abigail, and regularly followed the online exploits of Griff, Drake University’s official mascot.  However, visiting his grandchildren was always “Papa Mac’s” favorite pastime. 

    He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his “loving committed partner” (as he liked to say), Martha Marsot of Keokuk; one daughter, Erin McCuskey and her husband, Joshua Gustafson of Iowa City; son David McCuskey of Cedar Rapids; son Ian McCuskey and his wife, Melissa  Newman of Nashville, TN; and his grandchildren, Vivian and Ellis Gustafson, and Hazel McCuskey. He is also survived by several cousins, and extended family throughout the country.

      A memorial gathering will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Tom McCuskey Memorial Fund at Two Rivers Bank, 320 Concert Street, Keokuk. The Vigen Memorial Home is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.vigenmemorialhome.com.