Obituary: Thomas Molnar

As received from the Erickson Crowley Peterson Funeral Home:

Thomas (Tom) Molnar from Copper City, MI and Castle Rock, CO, entered eternal life on November 29th, 2022, at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colorado after a battle with cancer. He entered this world during the month of July 1952 as the second born son of Nicholas and Vera (Jackson) Molnar in Lorain, Ohio.  He attended local schools and graduated from Lorain High School with the Class of 1970.  He briefly attended Lorain County Community College until he received a low draft number.  He enlisted in the US Air Force in September 1971 and completed Air Force Basic Training at Lackland, AFB, TX.  He attended technical training at Kessler AFB, MS as a Electronic Emissions Operations Specialist.  His assignments included Fort Meade, MD, Sinope, Turkey and Kelly AFB, TX.  He later cross-trained and became a radar maintenance technician which sent him to locations such as Norton AFB, CA and Rhein Grafenstein, West Germany.  It was while he was stationed in Germany that he received orders sending him back to his old career field which was changed to Electronic Intelligence Operations and to Osan AB, South Korea.  No matter where he was stationed at, he enjoyed traveling to different locations such as the Parthenon in Greece and the Coliseum in Italy along with visiting various castles in Germany.  While at Osan AB, South Korea, he met his lifelong soulmate and future wife, the former Cindee Bykkonen from Copper City who was assigned to the same unit and section.  His next assignment brought him back stateside to Kelly AFB, TX and while Cindee was in South Korea for the remainder of her tour there, they decided to try out a long-distance relationship at the time.  Cindee was later assigned to Offutt AFB, NE and since her enlistment was ending within six months, she decided to join the Air Force Reserve Individual Augmentee (IMA) program instead of dealing with the uncertainty of the Air Force assignments system to work with active-duty vs reserve units.

  In June 1984, Cindee and Tom were united in marriage in San Antonio, TX and in September 1985, they welcomed their daughter Beth into their growing family.  As it was the Air Force’s way at the time, for a new TSgt/E-6 promotee, Tom was sent once again to Osan AB, South Korea on a remote assignment when Beth was an infant.  One of the hardest things he had to do in his life was leaving his family behind for a year.  But the upside of that assignment was that the family’s next assignment would send them off to Germany for a minimum 3-year tour.  While in Germany, Tom was deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm and spent his time there providing intelligence support to Central Command decision making elements.  He felt honored and humbled by the fact that as a part of his job he witnessed historical events from the perspective that few others had experienced and met and worked with those who made those type of decisions. 

During his time in Germany and elsewhere, he developed his love for motorcycle riding and when he visited the Keweenaw, he knew he would enjoy riding his BMW motorcycle on the lightly traveled, curving, rolling hilly roads.  After spending six years in Germany, Tom retired from active duty in April 1993 with 22 years of service as a Technical Sergeant and the family relocated to Copper City.  Tom took some time off from work to embrace his new surroundings and going for long walks with his neighbor and father-in-law where he learned about the history of the Keweenaw Peninsula.   Tom was employed by Turner’s Bakery from December 1993 until it closed in Oct. 2003.  He was also a member of the American Legion, Association of Old Crows, American Motorcycle Association and BMW Motorcycle Owners of America.  

When the attacks of Sept 11, 2001, happened, Tom became the at home support system while Cindee was recalled to active duty in support of Operations Noble Eagle/Enduring Freedom.  While she was deployed, she was permanently replaced at her job, leaving her career in limbo upon her return.  She informed her co-workers which included contractors for Lockheed Martin of the certified letter, and they asked for her resume when she was released from active duty.  After conversations with Tom and Beth (now a high school junior) as to whether she should give it to them, they all agreed that she should.  Cindee returned to Copper City after the start of Beth’s senior year of high school.  By spring 2003, Cindee had an offer of employment at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, CO.  So, the family joke was instead of child leaving home for college, mom and dad left home.  Cindee went ahead and started her new job, leaving Tom and Beth behind until Beth was settled in college.  Tom joined her in Colorado a few months later and was employed by the Transportation Security Agency as a passenger screener at Denver International Airport.  A few months later, he too, received an offer of employment at Lockheed Martin, Signals Reconnaissance program which was his dream job.  He worked there for nine years on that program and others until retiring in 2014.  His work there took him to many places across the country and around the world.  When Cindee retired from the working world in 2021, they decided to become snowbirds, staying in Copper City and LacLaBelle during the summer months enjoying the lack of crowds and traffic, clean air, peace and quiet while returning to Colorado during the winter months to escape the cold and snow.

Some of our fondest memories included Volksmarching in Germany on weekends (10 & 20 km hikes), playing volleyball at the unit and base level, teaching Beth how to play T-Ball and later softball, planting seedling trees in the back yard and listening to her play the flute while in the Washington Middle School Band and taking her for motorcycle rides. Watching Beth graduate from Calumet High School and pinning her 2nd Lt Bars on her at her Army officer commissioning ceremony prior to her graduation from Michigan Technological University.  Other memories included long distance motorcycle rides to national and motorcycle club rallies and elsewhere with Cindee on the trike and teaching Cindee that any day that it’s not snowing is a good day to ride a motorcycle/trike, no matter what the temperature is and that snowmobile pants can be used when riding a motorcycle. Later, it was renting and packing up a U-Haul truck of recently replaced furniture to give to Beth as she set up her first apartment near Fort Hood, TX, preparing and sending care packages to Beth and her units while she was deployed in support of Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, meeting up with Beth at her return from deployment ceremonies at Fort Hood, TX, meeting Josh for the first time at her deployment ceremony for when she was deployed to Afghanistan, walking her down the aisle when she married Josh and lastly, holding his grandchildren as infants for the first time. More recently, as his health began to fail, he enjoyed reading books written by his favorite authors such as Tom Clancy and Dale Brown, watching TV programs such as MASH, JAG, NCIS just to name a few and working jigsaw puzzles on his iPad, especially when Rachel was around as that was one of the first things she asked to do when visiting along with reading books to Jonah before bedtime.

Tom is predeceased by his infant brother Daniel, parents Nick and Vera Molnar, in-laws Rita and Bill Bykkonen of Copper City and beloved pets – Cookie, Snuggles, Lucky, Princess, Scooby and Toby. He is survived by his wife, Cindee, daughter Beth, son-in-law Josh, grandchildren Rachel and Jonah, brother Steve, sister-in-law Mary and sister Kay Bailey, brother-in-law Dave Bykkonen, pet companions Bella, Cuddles and Misty along with a niece – Laura, nephews- Jeff, Todd and Jeremy along with several aunts, uncles, and cousins. Graveside services with military honors will be held on Monday, July 10, 2023, at the Calvary Cemetery in Ahmeek, Michigan at 10 a.m. with a light luncheon to follow at the Siskiwit Reception Hall in Calumet.  The Erickson-Crowley-Peterson Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.