John C. Toomay, 88, a retired Air Force major general who was a key architect of nuclear defense strategies — and who holds a dubious record from his days as a professional basketball player — died March 12 of peritonitis at his home in Carlsbad, Calif.
Toomay spent much of his Air Force career developing strategic plans for radar and missile defense programs, primarily at the Pentagon. He was among the Defense Department officers who helped design the nuclear strategies that have guided U.S. defense policies for decades.
He was born in Ontario, Calif. After graduating from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., he enlisted as a private in the Army Air Forces in 1943. He was quickly promoted to the officer corps, but because he was too tall — 6-foot-7 — to be a pilot, he served as a communications officer. For 14 months during World War II, he commanded an isolated outpost in Greenland.
From 1947 to 1950, Gen. Toomay played professional basketball with the Chicago Stags, Providence Steamrollers, Baltimore Bullets, Washington Capitols and Denver Nuggets. When he played with Washington in 948-49, his coach was Red Auerbach, who later led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA titles.
Toomay holds the NBA record for most personal fouls in a playoff game — eight. Today, a player is disqualified with six fouls. When Toomay played, he remained in the game, accumulating fouls, because his team had no substitute players on the bench.
In 1950, Toomay was recalled to serve in the Air Force in the Korean War. During the 1950s, he received a second bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, from the University of Southern California, and graduated from specialized military training schools. He received an MBA from George Washington University in the 1960s.
In the early 1970s, he was commander of the Rome Air Development Center, now the Rome Laboratory, in Rome, N.Y., where he supervised two radar programs.
From 1972 to 1979, he was stationed at the Pentagon, where he worked in strategic and space system planning and helped formulate nuclear missile projects and other defense systems. When he retired from the Air Force in 1979, his decorations included the Distinguished Service medal, two awards of the Legion of Merit and two awards of the Meritorious Service Medal.
He settled in California after retiring from the Air Force and in 1984 co-wrote “Radar Principles for the Non-Specialist,” which is in its third edition and widely used as a textbook.
He served on the boards of directors of Texas Instruments, Sparta and the Leucadia Donut Shoppe in Encinitas, Calif. He enjoyed golf and watching sports. One of his sons, Pat Toomay, was a defensive end in the National Football League for 10 years, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders.
Toomay’s wife of 60 years, Virginia Toomay, died in 2005.
In addition to his son, of Albuquerque, survivors include three other children, Timothy Toomay of Pleasant Hill, Calif., Michele Toomay Douglas of Fort Worth and Leslie Hess of Ojai, Calif.; a brother; and four grandsons.
