Thomas George Marr was born May 19, 1952 in Saginaw, Michigan to George and Marie Marr. He died May 3, 2023 in Longmont, Colorado.
Tom graduated from Michigan State University, then earned his PhD from New Mexico State University. His wide range of interests included systems engineering, ecology systems, computational biology and image processing for nuclear testing. He had honorable professional appointments, including Senior Scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Theoretical Biology Department, and Cold Spring Harbor, where he was Senior Scientist and founder of the Computational Biology Department. He was the Chairman of the Informatics Committee for the International Human Genome Diversity Project. He published dozens of papers in leading scientific journals, and holds several patents. Tom was founder and CEO of two companies, Genomica and Hiberna.
Tom was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. His parents, George and Marie Marr, and his brother, Robert Marr, preceded him in death.
Surviving are his wife, Susan Church, his daughter, Spencer Scorsone, his stepchildren, Elizabeth Rabb and Marlowe Hopkins and his granddaughter, Lillian Alred. He also leaves behind his large Colorado family who brought him much love and comfort: Adonna Hipple, Diane Stroud, Mary and Tim Hart, Carolyn and Al Patton and Kemper and Sandy Hipple, and numerous nieces and nephews. Of Michigan, Mike and Luann Marr, Tim and Linda Marr, Sherry Marr, Bret Marr and family, and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
According to Tom's wishes, there will be no service or ceremony. The family encourages friends and acquaintances to gather and raise a glass to this remarkable man, tell the stories and remember the crazy adventures that made up his life. Tom had the gift of curiosity and an appetite for life. He was a kind and compassionate human being and touched the lives of many. He had a lifelong love of birds and enjoyed birding trips throughout the world. Contributions to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Tom's name are appreciated.
