Foy Lee Prater

Foy Lee Prater, age 89, died March 11, 2023, in Hermitage, Tennessee. He was preceded in death by his parents, J.F. and Pearl Prater; his sisters, Imogene Gossett and Mary Hellon Duke; and his beloved wife of 51 years, Shamiran Sarkissi Prater.

He is survived by his son, Dr. Edmund (Dr. Gretchen) Prater; daughter, Michelle (Steve) Freeman; grandchildren, Shamiran Prater, Liesl Prater, Grayson (Madison) Burke, Gabrielle Burke, Gibson Burke, Sasha Freeman, and Sophie Freeman; brothers, John (Kay) Prater and Ernie (Joanne) Prater; and sister, Joyce (Jim) Watkins.

Mr. Prater was born in Vernon, Alabama, on November 6, 1933. Born during the Great Depression, he began heavy farm work at age 6. As an adult, he served in Europe with the U.S. Army and then began work with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA). He worked alongside the first special forces teams in Southeast Asia, worked with Air America, and was posted in Afghanistan and Iran during the early 1960s.

These early adult years were full of travel and adventure, from racing cars to hunting wild boar and mountain lions in some of the most extreme areas of the world. But he left that life behind for the chance to marry the love of his life, Shamiran. A love story like none other, it began in Iran when Foy, working as an intelligence officer, was having surgery in a Tehran hospital and Shamiran was his nurse.

Foy began work with the Federal Aviation Administration. He served as an instructor at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City before completing his career as a supervisor in the air traffic control tower in Nashville, TN.

Through the decades, he was devoted to his faith and his family. He served the church wherever he lived. As an elder at Hermitage Church of Christ, his focus was on international missions. Later in life he spent years committed to the daily care of Shamiran while she suffered from Alzheimer’s.

A man of strength and stoicism, Foy had more secrets from his time in the service as an intelligence officer than any of us will ever know, and he very likely preserved more lives than we can imagine—both then and during his long career as an air traffic controller. Yet he was humble and kind, holding to the tenet that guided His life—to serve God and keep His commandments.

Visitation will be at the Hermitage Funeral Home on Friday, March 17, from 5-7 pm and Saturday, March 18, from 1-2 pm. A memorial service will follow at 2 pm with Bill Goodpasture and Dr. Edmund Prater officiating. Interment will follow at Hermitage Memorial Gardens. Family will serve as pallbearers.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Heritage Christian University in Florence, Alabama, or the Baxter Institute in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.HermitageFH.com for the Prater family.