Tom “The Magic Man” Tourville

Tom “The Magic Man” Tourville, a man who truly lived up to his name, passed away surrounded by loved ones on Friday March 7th, 2025, at the age of 84. Born June 8th, 1940. He grew up in Park Ridge, Illinois. Tom discovered his love for magic at a young age when he would walk to a Chicago magic shop called Magic Inc. and dedicated his life to perfecting his craft. He made his way through colleges at Northwestern and Stanford by doing magic as well. While living in San Francisco at 1865 Bush St. he met Bonnie who lived in an apartment upstairs by asking her if he could borrow a vacuum. She said she was using the vacuum and made him come back later for it, but that started what turned out to be a loving almost 60 years of marriage. He was always good with numbers and loved to play blackjack in Vegas during his time on Bush St. with his best man Jim Kauffold. Tom was banned from certain casinos there because of their success. More than just a magician and part time gambler, Tom was a talented engineer who worked on projects including the Lunar Rover Apollo 11 through 17 missions to the moon and the rover missions to Mars. He was a lead mechanical engineer at Santa Barbara Research Center from 1975 to 2012 and contributed critical designs to space-based earth resource instruments (ThematicMapper, VIRS/TRMM, MODIS, VIIRS) as well as Mars planetary exploration (TES and miniTES). After retiring from SBRC, Tom continued to work on instrument designs for Phil Christensen and ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration including OTES, EMIRS, LTES and ETHEMIS. OTES was on the Osiris Rex mission which analyzed the far away asteroid Bennu and brought samples back to Earth. Other engineering missions included helping his grandchildren design high school engineering projects like compressed air rocket launchers with ignition switches, egg drops and earthquake simulators where the kids always received A’s. Tom had a great sense of humor and was lucky to survive many uncontrolled laughing fits caused by his cousin Mike Vaughan telling old stories from their childhood in Chicago. Tom will be remembered by the whole of the Goleta California community for the many impactful contributions he made over the years including starting magic clubs for kids and adults, performing countless unforgettable magic shows, and helping start the Dos Pueblos Little League where he coached many teams from the Twins to the Royals. He leaves behind his devoted wife, Bonnie, his children, John and Jim and their wives, Michaela and Elizabeth, his cherished grandchildren, Jim, Josephine, Brooke, Lucy, Thomas, and Milliana, and a vast network of friends, neighbors, fellow engineers and magicians. Tom was extremely soft spoken and humble to all of his achievements, but those that truly knew how amazing he was, know even the above is a complete understatement of his gifts to this world. A celebration of Tom’s life will is scheduled for Saturday May 17, 2025 at Mulligans in the afternoon exact time TBD. Please RSVP to email: mtourville83@yahoo.com