Thomas L. “Tom” Gott
Thomas L. (Tom) Gott of Quincy, Illinois, died in the early morning hours of the new year on January 1, 2024, at the Illinois Veterans’ Home in Quincy, having just celebrated a 70th wedding anniversary on December 30, 2023, with his spouse Rosemary (Rose) Gott (née Morris) of Quincy.
Tom was born September 26, 1929, in Springfield, Missouri to John and Blanche (Gottas) Gott and, as he liked to joke, a month later the stock market crashed. Like many of his generation, Tom’s life was deeply impacted by the difficult circumstances of the Great Depression and World War II. His upbringing in a loving and supportive family instilled the values he would embrace throughout the rest of his life: family, education, hard work, honesty, loyalty, the importance of common purpose, service, and faith in Catholicism.
Tom left Springfield in 1948 for a career in professional baseball with the New York Yankees organization that was interrupted in the early 1950s when he was drafted into the army and served in active combat in Korea. His years in the Yankee organization provided a trove of colorful stories he could recount about the life and times of mid-twentieth century minor leaguers, such as Yankee great Mickey Mantle who was Tom’s teammate in Joplin, Missouri. The Yankees quickly promoted Mantle over Tom to play centerfield (Tom’s position) at Yankee stadium, but they also eventually recruited Tom to be their youngest minor league manager. The Yankees identified and valued Tom’s seemingly natural leadership and teaching abilities, strengths that Tom carried forward after he left baseball to work and raise a family in Quincy.
Tom met Rose while he was playing with the Quincy Gems in 1953, when they shared a dance one evening at the Patio’s Terrace Room. They were married by the end of that same year, and the following season Tom rejoined the Gems and won the Three-I League batting title with an average of .348 and an OPS of .907. After another half decade in baseball, Tom and Rose finally resettled back in Quincy in 1960, where they have lived since. Tom was hired by the Quincy Public Schools in the 1960s and worked first as a business and math teacher at Quincy Junior High School, where he joined a cadre of committed educators working to build Quincy’s reputation as a state and even national leader in public education over the next two decades. Quincians of a certain age might remember Tom from his work as Dean of Boys at Junior High, where he developed a reputation as “firm but fair” with students and became a tireless advocate for every child’s right to a quality public education.
Tom joined the QPS central administration in 1972 as business and operations manager, where he was primarily responsible for overseeing the District’s finances and physical plant maintenance. He led the District through one of its most financially successful phases, coinciding with the consolidation of a real “Golden Age” in the Quincy Public Schools. In the late 1970s Tom developed a plan and worked with area legislators to obtain needed funding for the construction of Flinn Stadium in Quincy. Tom and other local leaders also formed a progressive Neighborhood Federation in those years to meet the after-school needs of children in Quincy’s lower income neighborhoods. In the late 1980s Tom became Director of Head Start (at Madison School) and worked with a team of dedicated teachers, parents and supporting professionals in meeting the early educational and personal needs of our most disadvantaged children. He greeted the little ones every day with early morning enthusiasm and high fives for all. He knew every child’s name and, likely, what might bring a smile to their face. Administratively, he strengthened the program by securing additional state and federal grant monies. After retiring from QPS and Head Start, Tom worked for several more years as principal at St. Francis Elementary School, where he was also parishioner and lay leader, having formerly served on the board and as a trustee. He was honored in 1996 with the Exchange Club’s Golden Deeds Award.
In each position, Tom’s “super-power” proved to be his ability to lead teams of people in the achievement of common goals, both through his exceptional ability to analyze and solve myriad kinds of real-world problems and through consciously building and guarding mutual respect and esprit de corps, the kind of shared enthusiasm that he valued as the true engine of a successful team’s magic. Those who worked with Tom could be assured of two things: he would bring a positive “can do” outlook every day, and he would welcome everyone’s input, especially when accompanied with sense of humor. He loved joking around with colleagues, friends and family and was known to trade elaborate practical jokes with his closest friends.
During his retirement years, Tom became an avid golfer and joined Cedar Crest Country Club in Quincy where he enjoyed fulfilling friendships with a wonderful array of fellow golfers and card players. Cedar Crest also tapped Tom’s leadership abilities as an elected member of the board and as club president. Tom was a driven competitor throughout his life, and golf filled the void left when he had to give up playing competitive team sports. As a late comer to golf, Tom often objected to aspects of the game he thought unnecessarily time-consuming. “Go ahead and hit. Pick it up, that’s good. You too, pick it up. That’s a gimme. Next hole!” Tom could finish a round of golf faster than many thought possible. Cedar Crest provided Tom with many years of comradery and friendship and offered tremendous support as Tom worked through his recent health issues.
The last 70 years of Tom’s life were spent in loving marriage to Rose, and Tom liked to joke about how lucky he had been to come to Quincy as an out-of-towner to “steal” her away from the locals. His marriage and partnership with Rose were the foundation and driving force behind whatever he accomplished, from the batting title to the board office at QPS. Tom was proud to be ahead of his time in the ways his marriage operated more like a modern partnership between equals. Tom believed he found in Rosemary his ideal partner and that she brought out the best in him, made him a better person and parent and helped him overcome things that might otherwise hold him back. Tom would place his marriage to Rosemary at the top of his list of lifetime accomplishments.
Tom is survived by his spouse Rosemary, children Kelvin, Martha, Kylene and Gil, grandchildren Jenifer, Mallory, Trisha, Kalan, Leia, Mara, Maia and Quin, seven great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Tom was preceded in death by his father, mother, brother (Joe) and sister (Jean Marie).
Private family services were held with a Mass of Christian Burial and interment in Calvary Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made to either the YMCA or St. Francis Solanus School. The Duker & Haugh Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Martha and Family – I am sorry for your loss – I wish you peace
Thinking of you and all the wonderful memories Rick had of Tom. He was a super guy and will be missed by many.
What a beautiful write up on the life of a wonderful man I had the pleasure to know, along with the rest of my mom, dad and siblings.
The stars in the sky are really openings in the heavens where Tom is shining down to let us know he is happy.
He now is where I bet he knows everybody’s name or he will, in real short order.
Blessings to you all Gott family.
A great man who leaves a tremendous legacy.
Sorry to hear about the passing of Mr. Gott. He was truly an inspiration to us fellas growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. My thoughts and prayers to the entire family at the loss of a really great Quincian.
Absolute one a kind. Rest in peace!!!!
Our condolences to the family at the passing of Tom Gott. We were their neighbors for 11 years in our first home after marriage. They exemplified Christian values in their lives and helped us out in a few circumstances that came along in life. We will never forget Tom & Rose and their love for one another. It shone through in all that they did and in everyone they met. We were blessed to have known them and our prayers go out to the family at this difficult time.
What a great person and what an amazing life! My thoughts and prayers are with you during this difficult time. God bless you all. Kathy (McCarthy) Munhausen
One of our best has gone home to Jesus. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
Tom Gott was one of the best. I feel like I was blessed to call me a friend. Fly high Tom.
Sorry to hear of Tom’s passing. He was a member of the 1948 Independence Yankees and missed playing with Mickey Mantle who joined the team in 1949. However, he teamed up with Mickey Mantle with the 1950 Joplin Miners that was stellar team on the field and a bundle of fun off of it. Tom called in the the early 1990’s to ask if I would write a book about that era if he and a number of his Joplin teammates came to my home to tell their stories. After saying I would do that a number showed up on Saturday afternoon and the facilities of a local radio station was turned over to us and many of those Joplin Miners who could not attend were contacted by telephone and they joined in the conversation.
That afternoon of conversation was recorded and every word of it was written and formed one of the longest Appendices for any book ever written on the subject of baseball. I have Tommy Gott to thank for making that all happen and will never forget him.
Hi John
Thanks for the tribute. This is Tom’s daughter Kylene.
Do you think there’s anyway that we could get a copy of the book majoring in the minors? We would so appreciate it because the copy we had has been given away to a family member.
My mom‘s address is 1824 N. 24th St., Quincy 62301. Her phone number is 217-223-9650. I’m sure she would love hearing from you also.
Prayers for the family. Another great will be truly missed.
Kylene & entire Gott family,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all & this sad time. Kylene my husband Jeff works at IL Vet’s Home enjoyed talking to your dad. I told him that I used to ride my bike from 14th Bdwy to your house where we had a lot of fun. RIP Joanne/Jeff
Kylene & entire Gott family,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you all & this sad time. Kylene my husband Jeff works at IL Vet’s Home enjoyed talking to your dad. I told him that I used to ride my bike from 14th Bdwy to your house where we had a lot of fun. RIP Joanne/Jeff
Hi John, interesting-not too many of us old minor league baseball nonagenarians left; Mr. Gott was 6 months my senior. You mentioned his deep impaction by the depression. I remember it quite well also, growing up in Swamp East Missouri where virtually nobody where we lived had more than a dime to his name. My best friend in DEA remembered it like it was yesterday-and his Dad did have a low paying job throughout its existence. He was from Dyess, Arkansas, and left it at 17 YOA in the Navy, never returning until his Dad died in 1967 when he worked for us in St. Louis.
I don’t want to bore you too much but I am sitting here with nothing else to do, so here goes. I hired Walt out of the old Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) to be our Special Agent in Charge of our St. Louis office . The old FBN had a terrible reputation for corruption, with the US Attorneys, the federal Courts, and to the crooks who they often railroaded into prison. Most of the FBNers were honest but a lot, particularly in the NY and Chicago offices, were accomplished crooks, spoiling the reputation of everybody. Congress, although several of its members too were not on the up and up, tried to eliminate the corruption by a couple of mergers which failed because, due to the way the system works, the former FBN bunch, despite their reputations, ascended into the top management positions. Yates was one of the most honest guys I ever knew and he had been an FBNer. Your cousin Ernie, had a good reputation. I was lucky, awarded with a Regional Director job during one of the mergers when a DOJ official appointed me in lieu of old former FBNers. The great majority of our Agents were honest and speaking for myself I would gladly take a polygraph test at
any time relative to my honesty. I had 13 duty stations in my 25 year career with DEA and its predecessors and never had a complaint rendered against me. I had to fire 3 Agents at one office, all of them former FBNers, one originally from NY, another from Chicago, and the other from Los Angeles.
Corruption in DEA exists through this time, just recently a bunch of the Agents assigned to South America were busted for engaging in millions of dollars in narcotic corruption. One guy proudly claimed that corruption was far spread and that he had been the main man in South America. In spite of everything, I really enjoyed the work, protecting the public, catching big time crooks, working with mostly honest guys. You might be interested in reading the history of FBN and the early years of DEA. The 2 best books by far were authored by Douglas Valentine, “The Strength of the Wolf” and “The Strength of the Pack”. Despite the corruption, Valentine described the FBN as the greatest enforcement agency to have ever existed in the US. He lays out the sordid corruption that beset the old FBN throughout its existence, naming names, never getting sued for slander, defamation, etc, although a lot of the DEAers expressed displeasure at the revelations. As far as I know, Valentine truthfully laid it on the line and the books were very accurate. Valentine does not like the CIA and this is vividly expressed in his books. Most people do not know how the CIA and DEA were, and are, intertwined. The books details this to considerable degree, DEA Agents and CIA Agents sometimes Acting in alternate capacities. Personally, I think the CIA is a great asset despite the all the recent malevolence expressed against it and the FBI by some of our despicable politicians. I’ve bored you enough. So long. Bill
So sorry for your loss! I remember Tom from Junior high and St. Francis!