Tom Gott

(From Duker and Haugh Funeral Home)

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.