Joseph Dale Tommie

June 16, 1926 - April 2, 2018

Joseph Dale Tommie, Sr. of Hoover, AL passed away on Monday, April 2,2018' Born in Bessemer, Alabama, he was preceded in death by his parents Joseph Gilbert Tommie and Cecil Howton Tommie of Bessemer. He is survived by his wife, Louise AyerTommie, son, Joe Tommie, Jr. (Traci) and daughter, Alison Ayer Lewis (Bill), four grandchildren, Cooper Vines Lewis, Mitchell Wilson Lewis, Lauren Ayer Lewis and Francis Merrin Tommie. During WWll he served in the United States Navy aboard the USS. Pavlic (APD 70). For his time in the American Theater, and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, he was awarded two battle stars, the Occupation of Japan, the Victory Medal WWll, and the Combat Action Ribbon. Joe was a graduate of Bessemer High School, Jacksonville State College (BA) the University of Alabama (MA). He did advanced graduate work at the Unlversities of Alabama and Maryland. At the University of Alabama he was a member of the A Club, lettering in Tennis, and a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha social fraternity. He was selected as a member of Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities (1955 Edition). He began a seventeen year career in education as a teacher and coach at Bessemer High School. He joined the Alabama State Department of Education in 1970 as an Assistant State Supervisor of Vocational Education where he served an additional seventeen years. While with the State Department, he was a member of the professional fraternity IOTA Lambda Sigma and was State Coordinator of the Plymouth Trouble Shooting Contest. He was the recipient of the J. F. lngram Service Rwaid and the Distinguished Service Award to Trade and lndustrial Education and an Honorary Life Member of the Alabama Vocational Clubs of America. He was a former member of Trinity Episcopal Church of Bessemer where he had served on the vestry and as church school superintendent and presently attended Holy Apostles Episcopal in Hoover. He was a past member of the Bessemer Kiwanis Club serving as First Vice President, chairman of the Key Club Committee and Adviser for the local high school Key Clubs. He was a member of The Club, lnc. and The Metropolitan D-inner Club. He enjoyed sports all his life, especially tennis, and was a long time member of the Bessemer Tennis Club serving as its first President. He was a former member of the Alabama Tennis Association, serving at one time as its Vice-president, the Southern Tennis Association, and the United States Tennis Association, and held rankings in both the Alabama and the Southern Tennis Associations in his age group. ln 1998 he was inducted into the Alabama Tennis Hall of Fame. The service will be on Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 2:00 PM at the McCalla Memorial Funeral Home Chapel with internment to follow at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Bessemer. The family will receive friends from 12:30 PM until service time. lnstead of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bessemer Hall of History, 1905 Alabama Avenue, Bessemer, Alabama, 35020, Or The Alabama Tennis Foundation, c/o Elaine Francis, Executive director, 3300 Highland Ave. S. Birmingham, AL 35205, or an organization of your choice.