Succop

Thomas “Tom” C. Succop, a professional landscape architect with a deep love of the environment and education, died from complications related to Alzheimer’s on Monday, June 8, 2026, at his Pittsburgh home. He was 89.

Born on Jan. 14, 1937, at Butler Memorial Hospital, Butler, Tom, the eldest child of Margaret Phillips Succop and Augustus Craig Succop, was the brother of Anne S. Covert and Craigie S. Succop.

He first attended Stewart Hall, a two-room elementary school. Tom graduated from The Rectory School, Pomfret, Conn.; Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh; Hamilton College, Clinton, N.Y.; and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. His lifelong passion for soccer began at The Rectory School. By college, Tom had added lacrosse and played defense and served as co-captain for both teams while collecting several MVP awards.

After graduating from Hamilton College, he attended Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., before serving four years as a naval officer in the Caribbean. Upon completion of his duty with the Navy, Tom attended the University of Michigan Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, where he met his future wife, Jo Ann, while walking across campus to class. Jo Ann invited Tom on their first date to a modern dance performance. Soon after, in July 1966, they were married and immediately left for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, where Tom served as a master planner for the Canadian National Parks.

In 1967, Tom and Jo Ann moved to Rye, N.Y., where Tom worked as a professional landscape architect in the office of Peter Roland. It was in Rye where their first of three daughters was born. In 1969, the family returned to Pennsylvania, settling in Pittsburgh, where two more daughters joined the family. Tom worked in the office of Griswold, Winters, and Swain and later established his own office.

For more than 30 years, Tom specialized in residential design and college campus work. For three decades, he was the principal landscape architect for Hamilton College, helping to transform the campus by diversifying flora and introducing hardy evergreens, flowering ornamental species and new varieties of shade trees. Incorporating native plant materials into his designs and retaining the integrity of the environment was paramount in all of Tom’s projects. He was licensed in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia and taught as a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Virginia.

In addition to his family, Tom’s greatest love and passion was for preserving green spaces, protecting the environment and promoting the use of indigenous plants in the built landscape. His deep-seated belief in the importance of education was instrumental in the establishment of the Hamilton College Arboretum and supporting several initiatives in Canada, Haiti, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Envisioned with his wife, Jo Ann, and now part of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Succop Nature Park, Butler County, provides opportunities for environmental education. The original family homestead now serves as open space for the community’s benefit.

Shortly after retiring, Tom became an advocate and supporter of the Haiti Timber Re-Introduction Program, an agroforestry program affiliated with the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer in the Artibonite Valley of central Haiti. Making multiple trips each year, for over a decade, Tom would often use an empty golf bag to transport native tree saplings.

In Haiti, he collaborated on planning, design and building projects for the hospital — including the creation of a memorial grove, a much-needed water filtration system and improved road sanitation. On his visits, Tom worked alongside community members to build the memorial and plant trees. In addition, Tom was a passionate advocate for family planning services and reproductive health education at the hospital. He has been recognized by several institutions for his work and was always happiest when planting trees. For Tom, the act of creating space was also an act of making a better community. He believed people having community is central.

Tom reflected: “the Indigenous North American belief about the importance of harmony with mankind, nature, and the environment — coupled with Dr. Albert Schweitzer’s ‘reverence for life’ — are imperative parts of my belief system.”

Tom served on the board of numerous community-focused organizations, including as board chair of Shady Lane School, chair of Western Pennsylvania American Society of Landscape Architects, vice chair of Butler County Community College Foundation Board, scribe at St. Peter’s Church, senior warden of St. Andrew’s Church, and for the Solid Comfort Fishing Club, Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Pittsburgh Civic Garden Center, and the Society of Les Voyageurs. In addition, he served on the boards of the TW Phillips Gas & Oil Company and Phillips Resources.

Tom is survived by his wife of 59 years, Jo Ann; his children, Amy S. Millin, of Baltimore, Md., C. Elizabeth Succop, of Santa Fe, N.M., and Meg P. Adams, of Portland, Maine; sons-in-law, Michael G. Millin and Robert J. Adams; and grandchildren, Craig and Wills Millin, Shristi Succop and Wyatt and Asa Adams.

A private celebration of Tom’s life will be held at the Siasconset Chapel, Nantucket, Mass.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to spend time outdoors and to plant a tree. If so moved, contributions may be made to the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania — Succop Nature Park, 614 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238; Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, HAS Haiti, P.O. Box 110091, Pittsburgh, PA 15232; or the Leonard Dokis Foundation, 302 Charlie’s Bay Road, Dokis First Nation, ON P0M2N1, Canada.

Please sign the guest book at www.butlereagle.com.