Thomas John Golab

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Thomas J. Golab, who departed this life peacefully at home on November 12, 2025, at the age of 92. He joins his wife Ivalee who passed away in March 2018. Tom is survived by his children, Thomas D. (Irene Bopp), William T. (Lori), and Dawn M., his sister Phyllis Golab, CSC, and grandson Brian T. Tom was born on October 3, 1933, in Ford City, Pennsylvania, to John and Rose Golab.

He was brought up in a Catholic family. His parents were not well to do but they did what they could to ensure their children had what they needed.

When he was six years old, he had osteomyelitis, a bone infection, in his leg. His parents took him to a specialist in Washington DC. The doctor operated and saved his leg. He was in the hospital for 3 months. He worked very hard to get well and stay well. He was always a very hard worker. As a young boy he had several paper routes to earn money. He attended Gonzaga in Washington, DC. He went to public school his senior year graduating from Maryland Park High School June 1951. He received a Certificate of Apprenticeship for Electronics Mechanic on November 21, 1955. Tom took a US Government sponsored engineering test. He did so well on the test the government paid for his college education. He graduated from George Washington University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, June 1961, followed by a Master of Science in Engineering on June 1964.

Tom worked for the Navy Yard as an apprentice, and he worked for the federal government for several years. His college professor, Mr. Rotolo, informed Dr. Robert Ledley of the National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBR) that he had a student with a brilliant mind. Tom then worked for Dr. Ledley as a Senior Research Engineer at NBR. Tom was given many projects to complete. The greatest and most challenging was engineering the world’s first whole body scanner. It was called the ACTA scanner in 1973. It is better known today as the CAT/CT scanner. Georgetown University was the first to have such a machine. Tom traveled all around the world putting in machines and ensuring they worked.

In his spare time Tom enjoyed crossword puzzles, daily jumble, sudoku, chess, playing Hearts, swimming, running around the track. He was asked to sing in the St Joseph Choir. His greatest love was playing table tennis. April 1972, the US table tennis team hosted the Chinese delegation visit held at the Univ of MD. It was hosted by the table tennis club Tom joined. Through the year’s Tom received many ribbons, trophies and medals to show his talent at table tennis. In 2001, Tom and his double’s partner of 25 years, Ray Chen, won a gold medal at the National Senior Olympics in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Should you choose to make a memorial donation, The Golab family requests a charity of your choice in Tom's name.