Tom Dennis Finley

Tom Dennis Finley, 83, of Yorktown, Virginia passed away May 21st, 2024 from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Tom was born October 28th, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland to Cecil and Marie Finley (deceased)
Tom is survived by his children, Andrea Finley (Steve Kostoff) of Newport News, VA; David Finley (Elizabeth) and their children, Harriet Finley and Elise Finley of Durham, NC; and Andrea and David’s mother, Judy Finley, of Yorktown, VA. Tom is also survived by his sisters, Bonnie Fogle in Taylor, AZ and Nancy Ely in Florence, MS. He is also survived by his loving and devoted partner of nearly forty years, Judy Ferris of Yorktown, VA and her children, Susan Pollack (Ron) of Concord, NC; John Ferris (Laura) of Austin, TX and Janice Blackburn (Daniel) of Yorktown, VA; and a large family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His brothers, Doug Finley and Bill Finley, predeceased him.
After the death his father in 1953, Tom and his siblings were taken in by the Presbyterian Barium Springs Home for Children near Statesville, NC. Tom proved to be an excellent student, and the orphanage awarded him a scholarship to Davidson College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics.
In 1962 Tom began his distinguished 43-year career at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. His research included groundbreaking work in aeronautics, aerospace technology, and wind tunnel instrumentation. His research developed instrumentation that improved the ability to measure the wind tunnel model angle-of-attack by more than a factor of 10 during his tenure. He took part in several space projects: among them were designing a non-contact method to determine the speed of a hand cart traveling along a rail on the space shuttle as part of a study to find out the best way for astronauts to move from place to place during extravehicular excursions and another project to determine the linear and rotational motions of a 57-pound instrumented cube ejected from an expended Delta rocket. The cube was attached to the rocket by a 12-mile-long Kevlar string and monitored until it reached a stable position. This project was to see how two satellites might be joined by a tether for future applications. He earned multiple achievement awards and was awarded two patents during his career.
Tom continued his love of math and science with intellectual pursuits outside of work. Beginning in the 1970s he was an early enthusiast and adopter of the personal computer and other new technologies of the day. He volunteered his time to mentor high school students in extracurricular science, engineering, and robotics programs.
Tom was an exemplary bridge player, earning a Bronze Lifetime Master certificate. Following retirement in 2000 he kept busy designing and building an automatic dealing machine that dealt randomly generated bridge hands. He and Judy enjoyed traveling, taking cruises, playing bridge, walking their dog Gunny, participating in the St. Luke’s Easter Egg project, helping with the church newsletter, and eating at the Golden Corral every two weeks with their beloved Computer Club group.
A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, June 15th at St Luke’s United Methodist Church, 300 Ella Taylor Rd, in Yorktown officiated by Rev. David Hampton. There will be a reception and visitation time in the fellowship hall following the service.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org (http://www.alz.org).