Harry Justin Tomlinson

Mar 21, 1981 - Jun 18, 1992

Harry J. Tomlinson, long time Portage resident, died Thursday, June 18, 1992, at 12:15am at the age of 74. Mr. Tomlinson's s death ends a life of adventure, exploration, and community service that took him to 84 countries and all across the United States.

Mr. Tomlinson was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 21, 1918. He graduated from Central High School of South Bend in 1935 and from Indiana University in 1939. He was then awarded an exchange fellowship and travelled to Santiago, Chile, to study at the University of Chile. Soon after he arrived, he was offered a job by United Press International (UPÍ) as a foreign correspondent. A year and a half later he went to work for the New York Herald Tribune and a number of news agencies.

His undercover work began in 1941 when the American Association of Advertising Agencies, which was the front for the press section of the Office of Inter American Affairs, asked him to collect data on the sympathies - Pro Axis or Pro Allies - of Chilean newspaper and radio men. He was also involved in making documentaries in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. He was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in the South Pacific, first in the Signal Corps and then as a correspondent and editor for YANK Magazine, Central Pacific and South Pacific editions. After his discharge, he travelled in Mexico and then worked in public relations for W.R. Grace and Co. and Sylvania* Electric in New York City.

He married Christina Soulias in 1951.

In 1953, he was elected a member of the Explorers Club for his original explorations in the Amazon Valley. In 1957, he started a public relations firm in Havana, Cuba, and, with two partners, formed several businesses.

He and his family were forced to leave in 1960 by the revolution. Mr. Tomlinson started over again here in Kalamazoo, in 1961, in the UpJohn Company's International Public Relations Department. He held the positions of Manager - International Public Relations; Manager - Financial Public Relations; and Manager - Special Corporate Projects, between 1961 and 1977. In 1977, he became the Administrator, Corporate Contributions. He held that position until he retired March 29, 1985, with 24 years of service.

A not-so-anonymous member of the AA, Mr. Tomlinson was a member of the Board of Directors, Kalamazoo Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council (KADAC) from 1980 through 1986, a member of the Board of Directors of Gateway Recovery. Services from 1988, and President of the Board from 1989. He almost single-handedly raised the funds for Gateway Villa between 1979 and 1982, and took a leading role in developing extended care services for young people completing primary treatment, including chairing the Kalamazoo Task Force addressing this need.

He has also served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Arts Council, 1982-1985, the Public Relations Cabinet of the United Way of Greater Kalamazoo, 1981-1984, and the Citizens Task Force on Alcoholism, 1989-1992. He was an adjunct clinical Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University from 1984-1986.

Harry Tomlinson is survived by his wife, Christina, his daughters, Maggie Carter, Alice Lorenz, and Christina M. Tomlinson; and his granddaughters, Samantha and McKenzie Lorenz.

Friends who wish may make memorial contributions to Gateway, The American Cancer Society, or Hospice.

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

03/15/2026 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1258008/harry-j-tomlinson