RIP Prof Tom Cairns

[Babe the Blue Ox]

i just learned that former Tulsa volleyball coach and math instructor Tom Cairns, known on these boards as TCatTU, has passed away at age 86.

I first met Dr. Cairns when his son and I played jr high basketball together in east Tulsa back in the day. He was a great representative of our school and will be missed.

 

[Henry Kendall]

What a great man. Met him at a Catbird tailgate back in the day. Was TU to the core. He will be missed.

 

[sonofbird]

Tom was a gem. Met and visited with him several times at the House of Bird. RIP

 

[drboobay]

Sorry to hear this. A number of my relatives were involved in the Tulsa volleyball community long ago and I met him a few times. Nice guy.

 

[cmullinsTU]

I needed a science elective my final semester at TU so I went with intro to sports science. The rest of the class were Freshmen, so I ended up talking with Dr Cairns more than my classmates. Very intelligent, caring, and funny man.

He’s the only person I’ve met that I thought is more TU than I am. Note: I don’t now basically anyone on here in person so that’d change this statement if I did.

 

[noble cane]

RIP Dr. Tom, I enjoyed your classes and sharing a beer at CB’s.

 

[Chris Harmon]

For those that don't remember, Dr. Cairns covered the 2012 volleyball season for ITS. He approached me about doing it because he wanted to promote the program. His info was so in-depth...and he was a fantastic guy. Here's a link to one of the articles he did:

Tom Cairns: Importance of the libero

 

[TU Man]

great guy...

matrix theory sucked tho

 

[TU_BLA]

He was a great guy. I believe he came in and helped teach some of the intramural refs the finer points of officiating volleyball matches. Of course, recently, they've trashed all the traditional rules of double contacts, etc.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

A memorial service is scheduled for December 5 at 11am in Sharp Chapel.

 

[Larry Lewis]

I passed 2 math courses from him as a freshmen, and he gave me the benefit of the doubt both semesters on grades. So I'll always appreciate him.

 

[TUMe]

When I started in 1965 Dr. Cairns was already there. Later he was the head of the math department. He coached TU volleyball for many years. An interesting gentleman. He played senior men's volleyball until he was 68. He was a setter. When I started trying to understand volleyball, I would bother him a few minutes then let him watch the game. He was a true educator. Whether talking differential equations or explaining volleyball statistics.

He was also a graduate assistant to Henry Iba and a Korean War vet. Rest in peace Tom.

 

[TulsaAM]

Linear Algebra was never more interesting than when he taught it. A true blue and gold TU superman