To Denise and Terry's family:
It's hard to imagine that it's been a year since Terry passed, but my grandmother, Mona Myers, once told me that "the time will come when days pass like the pickets in a fence". Guess I'm there now, but still miss the phone conversations and almost daily emails that Terry and I shared. From the time we first met as young metallurgists at Decatur, through our working years, and up to the time he left us Terry was a great friend and respected professional.
With my heartfelt condolences!


I worked with Terry at Cat Central / Global Purchasing for several years and he was a great friend with a quick wit and a wonderful sense of humor. I am very sad to hear that Terry has passed. 
With sincere sympathy, 
Chuck Rask 

I am very sorry for your loss.  Terry was a great person.  He and his metallurgical engineering expertise left a lasting legacy at Caterpillar with the problems he solved, solutions he delivered, and most importantly, the other engineers he mentored and helped to develop.

God Bless You!
Tim Hoefft
Caterpillar AMT

Our deepest condolences to Denise and Nikki in this time of grief. We will all miss Terry and his great smile and wit. Gone but certainly not forgotten!

My sincere condolences to Terry's family. Terry was a good friend of mine during junior high and high school in Mt. Vernon and at the U of I in Urbana so many years ago. My best memories from those years include those when I was spending time with Terry. From bicycle rides around Mt. Vernon to him helping me with advance mathematics courses in college, he was always fun to be with and always was ready to support and help where he could.

Generous with his time and knowledge, I always knew I could call Terry with a technical question and he would share a plethora of information, some advice if that’s what I was looking for, and always an old funny story (or two).  Often the next day I would receive an interesting and relevant report or memo from years prior that he had just happened to locate.  Especially as a young engineer, Terry’s support and friendship were invaluable to me.  Rest well, Terry.  My deepest sympathies to you, Denise and family.  

Terry was one of Caterpillar's great metallurgists.  Very smart and always willing to help others understand difficult problems.  Terry was also wise beyond metallurgy and a good guy to talk to about life.  I'll miss him.  Rest in peace, Terry.

From Brazil, I wish to send the family my condolences.  I had met Terry few times during my trips to USA on Cat. He was an amazing person and I have a lot of good memories of him.

So sorry for your loss.  I was so lucky to work with Terry!  He certainly made work fun and at the same time he would impart his wisdom and common sense metallurgy.  So many young engineers at Caterpillar benefitted from Terry's willingness to share that sage advice.  No one knew more about steel castings.  I already miss his friendship and sense of humor.  Rest easy Terry. 

Sorry for your loss, Denise.  Terry was very generous and fun to talk to at our record store.  He was intelligent and friendly and showed great care for his and his family's collection of records and other memorabilia that he brought in over the years.  May he rest in peace.

Terry was a great mentor and friend.  It is hard to know where to start on the memories.  Maybe it was eating great bbq in Fort Worth, or going to a foundry at 11pm at night to watch melting, or just the countless times he would stay late in the afternoon in Decatur teaching me all sorts of stuff.  I would learn just as much on an airplane or in front of the dashboard as I would in the foundry.  But there was also the rusty rebar cages for tomatoes, and sharing good books outside of engineering and metallurgy.  As much as I feel I had a special connection, I think everyone feels that way because that was the guy he has - to care and show an interest and to help everyone he met.  He will be missed greatly and my heart and prayers go out to his family.

Very sorry for your loss.  Clearly Terry had a great impact on many in Caterpillar where he mentored so many people, including myself.  He was one of the best practical metallurgist I knew, a trusted expert, and a great friend.  

Terry was wonderful person to work with - a great mentor, always kind to everyone, extremely knowledgeable. The "CAT Pocket Reference" (by Terry) was such a useful tool. Terry will be missed. Rest in peace.

Terry was fun to work with and smart in his field of education!  I teased him a lot concerning eating “ Oysters on the half shell and having to be treated for parasites.   Enjoyed him as a Caterpillar employee 

Ken Tosetti 


I am sorry for your loss. I have many fond memories from working and traveling with Terry. He was a true expert in his field and put forth an extra effort to help others learn along the way. I enjoyed working with him.

I am very sad to hear the news.  I have so many great memories of working with Terry.  He was always there to help and always had good practical advice.  He helped make work fun no matter the situation.  Terry was a great man, teacher, and friend.  Terry and family are in my prayers.

I always enjoyed working with Terry in Track Type Tractors.  I worked on different teams analyzing and designing heavy and light structure components.  His expertise was instrumental in helping understand material properties and behavior under different environmental conditions to solve quality and field issues.  He also helped improve the accuracy and correlation of our simulation models to align with real life test or field history.  But more than the working relationship was the personal side where I always enjoyed a good hallway conversation about the weekend or old traveling stories supporting Caterpillar.  A lot of memories came back to me in an instant.  Terry will never be forgotten as a co-worker or friend.  My thoughts are with Terry's family. 

I remember Terry's retirement party, overflowing with current and retired coworkers. While Terry had enormous technical knowledge that he shared with us all, only a person who everyone enjoyed spending time with could inspire that kind of turnout. Terry will be missed by many.

Many fond memories of Terry and most are around his teaching on castings, quenching, and metallurgy.  He was able to be kind and snarky at the same time and a pleasure to interact with always.  He served on my Advisory Committee for my Master's at University of Alabama and was a great help.

Terry was a great colleague and friend. I worked with him on and off over my 20+ years at Caterpillar.  His guidance and sharing of knowledge was invaluable.  He was never too busy to stop and help me solve an issue. He was very generous in that way.  I learned a great deal from him over those years that helped make me a better employee and person.  Thank you Terry!  My deepest sympathy to the family. He will be missed!

Terry is man, myth, and legend.  He would tell you himself he was full of it, and he was.  He has been a part of my career from the very beginning.  I immediately knew I liked his style, and I wanted to do what he did, not just the job, but the way he did it.  He was full of pithy advice, hilarious stories, and common sense metallurgy.  He had great perspective, he never dismissed anyone, and he always had time.  I learned from him when I didn't even know I was learning.  He was my friend before I even realized it.  I had the honor of working with him for most of my career, and for a period, I spent more time with him than I did my family.  He became my family: the crisp $2 bill tooth fairy to my kids, the main contributor to my record collection, all in pristine condition at $1 apiece, the garden mentor who gave me rose of sharon that he could grow anywhere, and I still can't get to bloom.  He took good care of his things, his duties, his people.  He was smart, generous, humble, and kind.  I still hope to be like him when I grow up.  Thank you for sharing him with us, Denise.  Rest in peace, my dear friend, Terry.

Terry was a wonderful friend and mentor for me at Caterpillar.  He went out of his way to help me when I was thrown in over my head in a new position and helped me find my way through.  His self deprecating humor and hilarious stories kept all of us entertained and always lightened the mood.  He is greatly missed.

Sorry for your loss.  It was sad to hear the news, making me pause recalling all the great interactions I had with him, what he taught me and how I respected him.  When I joined Track Type Tractors,  Terry was one of those key experts whose name was quickly noted as the go to person for metallurgical questions.  Know that Terry left behind a great legacy at Caterpillar, one that continues to this day,  carried on by those he taught and inspired.  

I was so very sorry to read about Terry's passing.  Far from our youthful days in Mt. Vernon, I'll always remember his wonderfully dry sense of humor and stories galore about the family and the world of small town photography.  He was a joy to be around.  My thoughts and prayers go out to Nicky and the entire family.  Blessings to you all.  Tom Archer - 

Very sorry for your loss Denise.   Terry was wonderful person to work with.  I think anyone who worked with Terry greatly benefited from the experience.  I know I did.  

Terry was a mentor, teammate and friend all rolled into one.  Knew him from Caterpillar for almost 30 years and worked very closely with him for over 10 years. His knowledge of Caterpillar machines, components, suppliers and their metallurgical and quality processes was legendary.  His work will continue to create tremendous value for Caterpillar for decades to come.  His biggest legacy will be the innumerable young engineers and technicians he mentored throughout his career. Thank You for everything you taught us Terry!  I'll always smile recalling our many lunch conversations and already miss your daily calls of "Just checking up on you".  Rest In Peace, My Dear Friend ! 

Denise- Very sorry for your loss.  He was a great colleague and mentor to the metallurgical community.  He always simplified our world to where it made sense like associating casting costs to a butcher shop meat counter!  He will be truly missed but his wisdom will  never be forgotten.

Terry will be missed by the Large Dozer Engineering Team. He provide technical assistance for nearly every known steel, casting, forging, spring, or other widget used in our large dozer. For me, he was my mentor and guide through the world of heat treatment and material thermal treatments. He will be remembered for years as the guy who helped us young engineers figure it out. I have so many fond memories of the 10+ years of working with Terry. God Bless.

I am very sad to hear of Terry's passing.  He was a great Caterpillar metallurgist and mentor to many of our engineers.  He was one of our true experts in the field.  He was always friendly and genuinely cared for others.  He will be missed.

God Bless Terry and the Myers family!

Very sad to here. While I was in UC spent good time with him. He was great mentor and had fun with metallurgy. My sincere condolences to Terry and his family.

OBITUARY

Terry A. Myers

December 6, 1955 – January 4, 2022

Davison-Fulton/Bartonville Chapel

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