Thomas William Pross, Jr.

Rear Admiral Thomas W. Pross, USMS, (Ret) Rear Admiral (RADM) Thomas W. Pross, USMS (U.S. Maritime Service), 82, of Odenton, MD, a retired Associate Maritime Administrator at the U.S. Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation, died November 12, 2020 from complications of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). He had fought a long hard battle with MS, since March of 1979. After graduating from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at Kings Point, NY in 1959, as a marine engineer, he served as Ensign aboard the Destroyer Escort USS Maloy (EDE-791) as the Assistant Engineering Officer. After his active naval duty service he began work on the Maritime Administration’s Work/Study Scholarship Program, awarded at graduation. Under the program he received his MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1975 he completed the Program for Management Development (PMD) at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. He held various engineering management positions at the Maritime Administration. In 1982 he rose to Associate Maritime Administrator for Shipbuilding, Ship Operations and Research. In this Senior Executive Service (SES) position he served as the principal assistant and advisor to the Maritime Administrator for the Agency’s programs on ship construction; shipbuilding costs; ship operations, including the National Defense Reserve Fleet and the Ready Reserve Force; Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) projects; environmental activities; pollution control; and research and development. RADM Pross wrote and presented many technical papers on subjects ranging from commercial fishing vessels to LNG carriers. He served on numerous committees: which included: Chairman, Joint Maritime Administration/Navy Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Committee; Member, The Technical Committee -American Bureau of Shipping (ABS); Member, Interagency Advisory Committee, Ship Structure Committee; Member, Committee F-25 on Shipbuilding - American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM); Member, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) Awards Committee; Member, Interagency Arctic Policy Group; Member, NASA/Maritime Administration Joint Steering Committee; and Member, Shipping Coordinating Committee - National Committee for the Prevention of Marine Pollution. His major honors and awards include the Maritime Administration’s Bronze Medal (the Agency’s highest), the Department of Commerce’s Silver Medal (second highest) and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association’s Outstanding Professional Achievement Award in 1984. His career was shortened when in March of 1979 he developed MS. He continued his heavy workload until 1987, when he medically retired. At that time the Maritime Administrator appointed him a Rear Admiral in the United States Maritime Service (USMS). This was equivalent to his Senior Executive Service (SES) position. He is survived by his devoted companion of 26 years, Marie S. Locke; two sisters, Carole P. Gruber of Angier, NC and Ruth P. Wickham of West Caldwell, NJ; daughter, Kristin P. Brown of Newcastle, ME; two sons, David T. Pross and Matthew C. Pross of Gambrills, MD; six grandchildren, Steven A. French, Katie A. French Ryan, Justin N. French, Jacob T. Brown, Charles M. Pross and Thomas C. Pross; and three great grandchildren, Harrison P. Ryan, Oscar L. French and McKenna L. Ryan. After a private family ceremony his ashes will be buried at his summer place on Damariscotta Lake, Maine.

Thomas William Pross, Jr.

November 19, 1937 - November 12, 2020