Thomas Henry Whalen was born at Dutchess Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York, the first child of Thomas Henry Whalen and the former Evelyn Ruth Belknap, on December 24, 1948. He passed away Sunday morning January 23, 2022 at Saint Joseph's Emory Hospital of heart failure. He studied at Michigan State University from 1967 until he received his Ph.D in electrical engineering and systems science in the mid 1970s. He worked as a systems analyst for the Michigan State Housing Authority until 1979, when he was hired at Georgia State University in what was the College of Urban Planning, later part of the Business School. He retired from GSU in 2010. Dr. Whalen was a pioneer developer in the field of fuzzy logic, and a member of the North American Information Processing Society (NAFIPS), and a life member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers. Since the late 80s, he was a member of Saint John Chrysostom Melkite Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Survivors include his wife, Evelyn Shepard Whalen; daughter, Tara Lee of Twin Lake, Michigan; sisters: Kathleen Whalen of New Orleans, Louisiana, Jean Gunsch of Hyde Park, New York and Margaret Rousch of Orange County, New York; grandchildren: Scarlett Vandering of Twin Lake, Michigan; Charity Au of Hialeah, Florida, Quinn Lee of Twin Lake, Michigan and Charlie Riggs Whalen of Blue Ridge, Georgia; great grandson, Zayn Vandering of Twin Lake; many cousins, nieces and nephews. Sign online guest book at www.fischerperimeterchapel.com. Gifts in lieu of flowers may be made in his name to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (www.mda.org). Funeral services will be held at Saint John Chrysostom Melkite Church, 1428 Ponce De Leon Avenue , Atlanta Georgia at 10:30 AM, Thursday February 3, 2022. Interment will be at Honey Creek Woodlands, Conyers at 2 PM later that day. Arrangements by Fischer Funeral Care, Atlanta (678) 514-1000.
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