Tommy L. Mack – Sergeant First Class, United States Army

Under His Leadership, Tourmobile Flourished

In addition to owning Tourmobile Sightseeing, Tommy L. Mack, 77, launched
other transportation and parking services in the D.C. area.
(Courtesy Of Tourmobile Sightseeing)

Tommy L. Mack, 77, the chairman and owner of Tourmobile Sightseeing, a D.C. tour service that takes visitors to historic sites including the Mall and Arlington National Cemetery, and who operated other parking and transportation businesses, died July 8 at his home in Great Falls of congestive heart failure.

He started his career as a tour guide with Universal Studios in California in 1964 and a year later became the personnel manager for the studios’ tour division. When Universal acquired Tourmobile Sightseeing in the late 1960s, Mr. Mack was transferred to Washington as a general manager. He became a vice president before purchasing Tourmobile from Universal in 1981.

When Mr. Mack began working with Tourmobile in the late 1960s, the company had three vehicles that stopped at sites along the Mall. Today Tourmobile operates a fleet of 42 blue shuttle buses that transport tourists to many other sites, including Mount Vernon and the home of 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

In the mid-1980s, Mr. Mack created Landmark Services Parking, which operates the parking facility at Arlington National Cemetery. In 1992, he formed Hospitality and Transportation Services, which operates satellite parking and shuttle service at Reagan National Airport.

Tommy Lester Mack, a native of Linden, Texas, served in the Army from 1947 to 1951 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University at Los Angeles in 1958. He had been a Great Falls resident since 2005.

In the mid-1980s, he founded the National Council for Education and Economic Development, an early effort to help establish what will become the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, is scheduled to open on the Mall in 2015.

In 1985, Mr. Mack received the Commander’s Award for Public Service from the Army for providing complimentary transportation to Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. In 1988, he received the Anthony Bowen Award from the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington for being an exemplary role model to youth.

During the 1990s, Mr. Mack served as an honorary chairman for the annual June fair of the Hospital for Sick Children (now the HSC Pediatric Center) in Northeast Washington. He also was a board member of the National Park Hospitality Association and Washington’s National Theatre.

Survivors include his wife of eight years, Diane Donovan Mack of Great Falls; and a son from a previous relationship, Adam Mack of Bethesda.

TOMMY LESTER MACK Owner, Tourmobile On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, beloved husband of Diane Donovan Mack; devoted father of Adam Thomas Mack; brother of Jessica Rose. Also survived by Linda, Gummel, Donna Bond, many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Memorial services and inurnment, Monday, July 27, 11 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Chapel, For. Myer, Virginia.

TOMMY MACK, SFC, USA MEMORIAL CHAPEL 11:00 27 July 2009

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard