Thomas Edward Bateman Jr.

Thomas Edward “Tommy” Bateman, Jr., 56, a much-loved and well-respected family man, local financial advisor, championship-level high school athlete and successful head football coach at Father Ryan High School, died Monday from complications of a recent stroke.

“He was only with us 56 years, but his accomplishments and tremendous wealth of friendships speak volumes for the way he spent the years before he was called from us,” his close friend and business associate Wonnie Short said. “He loved his family above all else, was a devoted Christian, left behind former teammates and athletes who will remember him forever, and has clients and business partners who will always retain the inspiration he provided. A life well done!”

A visitation will be held at 9 a.m. today for Mr. Bateman at Christ the King Church, where he was active and where his wife and children attended school. A funeral Mass will held at 10 am led by the Rev. Joe McMahon, with Rev. Edward Steiner and Rev. Walter Nolte concelebrating. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery.

Tommy was a Nashville native who made his academic and athletic leadership skills evident at an early age. He attended Father Ryan High School where he was a member of the Father Ryan Student Council during the latter three of his four years at the school, and he was class president in his final year. In the athletic realm, he was a heralded linebacker on Father Ryan’s 1974 state championship football team, and added to that an individual state wrestling championship as part of his four-year dedication to the school.

Tommy received an athletic scholarship to Memphis State University, now the University of Memphis. He transferred to Middle Tennessee State University to be with his high school sweetheart, Susan Francescon Bateman. Though injuries limited his athletic career in the latter days of his college experience, Tommy retained his interest in sports and that love eventually led to a successful high school coaching career first at White House High School and then at Father Ryan. As a beloved Father Ryan head football coach, he guiding his team to a 9-1 season and the state playoff the final year of his five year tenure as head coach. Tommy’s coaching career at his alma mater was complemented by his role as an inspirational high school teacher.

Tommy later turned his career toward the investment world, where his father, Thomas Bateman, Sr., had gained great reputation and success. He spent the past several years with A.G. Edwards & Sons, and then with its successor Wells Fargo.

His survivors in addition to his wife Susan Francescon Bateman, include son Thomas Edward “Buster” Bateman III (Louisa), daughters Casey Marie Bateman and Audrey Bateman Nolte(Alexander), granddaughters Elizabeth Frances “Betsy” Bateman and Amelia Rose Bateman, his parents Patricia Pruett Bateman and Thomas Bateman, Sr., his stepmother Barbara Shannon Bateman, brothers Scott (Delores), Chris, Paul (Karen), and Rhett Bateman, father and mother-in-law Sam and Margie Francescon and numerous in-laws, nieces, and nephews.

Pallbearers will be his four brothers, nephew/godson Aaron Bateman and nephew/godson Stephen Francescon. Honorary pallbearers will be Lamar Morgan, Mike Wright, Joe Ellen, Frank Sullivan, David Francescon, Mike Carell and Wonnie Short.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Tommy Bateman Scholarship Fund which will provide tuition assistance to students personifying his fighting spirit, via Wells Fargo Advisors, 230 4th Avenue North, Suite 200, Nashville, TN 37219.