Your Opinion: March 9, 2010

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March 8, 2010

Anonymous The Times-Recorder Mon Mar 08, 2010, 08:20 PM EST

Sumter County native makes good

Thomas Russell (Russ) McCrea Boughnou was born Nov. 13, 1934, in the Hebron community of Sumter County, south of Plains. The McCreas were early settlers of that area, having been there when Sumter County was created in 1831. Russ died May 17, 2009, in Plano, Texas.

Russ went from a small South Georgia farm to become of the chief officers of Texas Instrument Corp. He was a pioneer in the development of our country’s guided missile defense system.

His father died when Russ was small. He went to live with his Westbrook grandparents at Blount, Ga., in Monroe County. In 1946, his mother married J.C. Boughnou, who adopted Russ and his sister Nancy. They then were given the surname Boughnou.

During his high school years in Portsmouth, Va., he met Sylvia Ayers Crisp, who was to become his wife of 45 years. Upon completion of high school they married and moved to Atlanta where he received a bachelor of electrical engineering from Georgia Tech.

After a short stint with Raytheon and Martin Marietta, Russ, Sylvia and their then two children moved to Texas in 1962. Here he began 34 years of employment with Texas Instruments. He also earned a master’s in electrical engineering from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

When Russ retired in 1994, he was vice president of Texas Instruments’ Defense Systems and Electronics Group. He was a pioneer in the development of tactical guided missiles and a significant contributor to the U.S. defense system.

His wife Sylvia died in 1999. He married Nancy King Grantham in 2005. Russ’ priorities were his faith, his family and his friends. His faith in God and active role in his church were very important to him. He summed it up when he said, “I’m just grateful to God for the opportunities He has given this poor Georgia farm boy.”

Bill Dupree

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