Milton Dooley

Milton Thomas Dooley passed March 11, 2021. He was born May 29, 1933, to Henry Thomas and Ruby Cox Dooley. He married his high school sweetheart, Janice Whitney, in 1951.

Mr. Dooley attended Winston-Salem schools and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Mathematics at North Carolina State University. He then attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. He also served in the U.S. Navy for four years.

Most of his professional career was spent in magnetohydrodynamics research. Most notably, he was Director of MHD Research for Reynolds Metals Company in Florence, Alabama, and Director of the Component Development Integration Facility (CDIF) for the U.S. Department of Energy in Butte, Montana.

He left the scientific community to develop and market a unique motel construction concept called Sheltered Systems. He is the owner of the Campus Inn in Missoula, Montana.

Because of health problems, he returned to North Carolina. He taught Calculus and Physics at Bishop McGuinness High School, a very rewarding and special bonus in his life. After open heart surgery, he found 55 acers on the Roaring River and built his log cabin. He often said it was “the best place I have ever lived”. T’s cabin was the site of many happy gatherings. He enjoyed playing golf, gardening, woodworking, cooking, and sitting on the porch.

He is preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Daniel Dooley and Donald Dooley; and his son, Whitney Dooley.

He is survived by his wife, Jan; son, Rus Dooley; daughter, Amy McGuinn (Tom); grandchildren: Thomas McGuinn III (Tiffany), Whitney Conrad (Kyle), Ashley Liberko (Greg), and Lauren Snyder (Tom); great-grandchildren: Lincoln, Mabel, and Lee Liberko, Clarke and Reeve Snyder, Annabella Conrad, and his namesake, Thomas Dooley McGuinn.

Friends and family will gather at T’s Cabin to celebrate his life and say goodbye.

Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com