(The following obituary appeared on the Citizens’ Voice website on September 21.)
WILKES BARRE, Pa. — Thomas J. Cavan, 87, of the Miners Mills section of Wilkes-Barre passed away Tuesday in Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Township.
He was born on Dec. 13, 1918, in Wilkes-Barre, son of the late Thomas H. and Helen Doster Cavan. A 1936 graduate of Coughlin High School, he served in the Army during World War II as a radar operator in the Philippines.
He was employed by the Postal Service and was an engineer for the Lehigh Valley Railroad, having served as a fireman on the last steam locomotive that came into Wilkes-Barre in the late 1950s.
Mr. Cavan held many offices for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, including the general chairman of the Conrail Division.
Mr. Cavan was a former resident of South Wilkes-Barre, where he was a member of St. Therese’s Church, Wilkes-Barre. He also belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Anthracite Post 283, Kingston.
He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Kathleen Gannon; brothers, Donald, Girard and Robert Cavan.
Surviving are daughters, Cathy Jamiolkowski, Selinsgrove; Molly Lowe, Wilkes-Barre; granddaughters, Katie Lowe, Aileen Lowe and Jackie Lowe; sisters, Mary McGrew and Lorraine Loftus, both of Wilkes-Barre.
The funeral will be held Saturday at 9 from E. Blake Collins Funeral Home, 159 George Ave., Wilkes-Barre, with a Funeral Mass at 9:30 in St. Therese’s Church. Interment will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Hanover Township. Friends may call Friday, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association, 71 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701, or the American Diabetes Association, 63 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701.