Saline High School Graduate Thomas Masterson, Air Force Veteran, Owned a Baskin Robbins Store

Thomas Ira Masterson, age 72, of Deerfield, IL, formerly of Paw Paw, IL, died at home at 3:00 a.m., Tuesday April 5, 2022, during his sleep after a nearly four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.

He was born on August 1, 1949, in Highland Park, Mich., to Joseph and Eunice (née
Lackey) Masterson.

Tom graduated from Saline High School in Saline, Mich.,  in 1969 earned a BA in Marketing at Western Michigan University in 1981. He was employed by Radio Shack as a store manager in Kalamazoo, Mich., until 2001 when he bought a Baskin Robbins in Deerfield, Ill., which he ran until diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2018. Tom was a U.S. Air Force veteran serving as an Airman First Class trained as a radio relay repairman stationed in Japan. Tom was an Eagle Scout and devoted father.

He is survived by his former wife, Christie Clausen, their daughter, Caryn Hass (née Masterson) and her husband Tim Hass of Phoenix, Ariz., and his granddaughter Molly Hass, his brother Joseph Masterson, Jr. and wife, Bonnie Masterson of Indianapolis, Ind., and his brother Bruce Masterson and his wife Susan Bell of Northbrook, Ill.

Tom was fascinated by biology from an early age, and donated his body to the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois. There will be a memorial service at a future time.

Memorials are suggested to the Pancreatic Cancer Foundation Parkinson’s Disease Foundation by visiting https://www.pancan.org/ways-to-give/

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