Randall Toups

Randall Toups
May 8, 1923 – December 1, 2005

Randall Joseph Toups, 82, a U.S. Army Airman in World War II whose
on-the-fly mechanical innovations significantly contributed to
modern-day aviation, died Thursday after a short illness. Services will be 10 a.m. Monday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 6125 Bosque Blvd. with Rev. Norm Steinke officiating. Burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd.
Mr. Toups, a retired petroleum engineer who spent most of his
30-plus-year career in the aerospace defense industry, was born and
raised in Thibodaux, La. He moved to Waco in 1956 to take a job with
Phillips Petroleum Co. in McGregor. The company later merged with North
American Rockewell, then became Rocketdyne and later was bought by
Hercules. Much of his work, on solid-fuel rocket motors, was top secret.
He is survived by his wife of 26 years, Lois Stelzer Leftwich Toups,
seven of his eight children from his first marriage to Ila Gene Moore
Toups, and four stepchildren.
Mr. Toups interrupted his studies at Louisiana State University in 1943
to enlist in the Army, where he served as staff sergeant in the 878th
Bombardment Squadron in Saipan. A born innovator, he capably
jerry-rigged and invented when supplies and parts weren't available. He
took his college books with him to war, and after discharge, graduated
from LSU where he helped establish the school's first petroleum
laboratory.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Verna Boudreaux Toups and Harry
Sydney Toups Sr., of Thibodaux, La.; four of his five siblings; one son,
Christopher Stuart Toups; and an infant granddaughter, Bethany Wieting.
His seven surviving children are Daniel Paul Toups and Cynthia Jane
Toups Threlkeld (John), both of Denver; Bradley Gerald Toups (Sharon) of
Taylor, Texas; Catherine Toups Atkinson (Rod) of Bethesda, Md.; Ronald
Glenn Toups (Nancy) of Hewitt; Cheryl Toups Hartmann (Wayde) of Woodway;
and Jeffrey Blake Toups of College Station, Texas. His four stepchildren
are Carolyn Leftwich Swoveland of Pueblo, Colorado; Leon Leftwich
(Peggy) of Clifton, Texas; Brad Leftwich (Melissa) of Hewitt; and
Barbara Leftwich Wieting (Ken) of Milwaukee. He has 32 grandchildren and
six great-grandchildren.

Memorials can be made to the Trinity Lutheran Church building fund at 200 Factory Dr. Waco, Texas 76710-6958