Tommy Louis McGhee

Chillicothe, IL.

He was born on September 11,1938 in Avon, IL to Hazel (White) and Louis McGhee.

He was preceded in death by his parents and twin brothers.

He is survived by his wife, Janet (Deppermann) McGhee of Peoria, IL; his two children, Jon McGhee of Peoria, IL and Julia A. (Marc) Lowe of Dunlap, IL; his three stepchildren, Jenny Bainridge, James D III (Katie) Williams of Moncks Corner, S.C, and Joy Williams of Peoria, IL; and his grandchildren Kyle, Cody, Madison, Jordan, JJ, Caylen, Kylee, Emily, Jaden and Ashley. Tom is also survived by his sister, Rozetta (Mel) Miller; his brothers, Larry (Peggy) McGhee and Terry (Sue) McGhee; and several nieces and nephews.

Tom graduated from Dunlap High School in 1956. He attended Illinois State University from 1956-1957

and then continued on his education at Eureka College, where he played basketball from 1958-1962. He

later earned his Masters of Science from Indiana State University.

His passion was teaching and coaching.Through his tenure as an educator/coach, he worked at Illiopolis

High School (1962-1963), Brown County High School (1963-1965), Onarga High School (1965-1967),

and his longest tenure, IVC High School (1969-1994).

Tom coached numerous sports. It didn’t matter which one it was, you could find him on the sidelines.

From wrestling to baseball to football to basketball, his passion was there. One of his most prized times

was as a Women’s assistant coach at Illinois Central College with Coach Ramsey from 1989 to 1998.

During this time, they won National Championship Titles. While coaching freshman girls basketball at

Richwoods high school, he was part of the state championship team. He also coached Chilli Dawgs, a

flag football team, for numerous years.

Tom enjoyed coaching and videoing from the sidelines, but really found joy in watching all the activities

that his grandchildren participated in. He also enjoyed traveling and went on many memorable vacations.

He loved cruises, as well as some of his big trips to Australia, Cancun and Vegas. He really enjoyed

taking family vacations to Wisconsin Dells and Branson, MO where he made many memories with his

loved ones.

Outside of sports and traveling, he was a big supporter of the Chicago Bears, loved watching Judge Judy

and enjoyed his coaches breakfast on Mondays. Most of all, he loved spending time with his family and

friends. He enjoyed life and made the most of it, that's for sure!

There are no words to express how grateful the family is to the fireman, EMTs, caregivers and his

caregiver LaTrika. It took a village and LaTrika to keep Tommy in line and as happy as he possibly could

be. We would also like to say thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Services will be held at Davison-Fulton Woolsey Wilton Funeral Home in Peoria, IL (Willow Knolls) on

Saturday, February 15th, 2025. Visitation will be from 2:00-4:00 pm, with a service immediately

following at the funeral home. Cremation rites will be accorded.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made St. Jude.

Words of comfort can be shared with the McGhee family at Woolsey-Wilton.com